Last fall, when I stepped onto what I now know is called a "Crop Duster" airplane, in Memphis, Tennessee en route to Houston, Texas for the grand opening of a new Black bookstore, CushCity.com, my heart leapfrogged in my chest. I wanted to break out and run to the nearest bus station, my favorite mode of travel. However, time would not permit me to indulge my fears. So I settled down and began to pray. Needless to say, I have a fear of flying. Be it DC 10, 757, or a small plane, flying has always been a challenge to my faith.

But a Crop Duster? We're talking just a little bigger than a helicopter as far as I was concerned. On the way back to Memphis from Houston, I flew on another Crop Duster." My knees nearly buckled this time. I flew with only six other people. In fact, when the airline attendant told one man to sit in the back to balance the plane, I dubbed it "the bicycle built for two in the sky."

I had to do some serious soul searching. "Now either you believe Jehovah God, or you don't. You believe you have a calling and are on your purpose or you don't. You either believe that your steps are being divinely ordered or you don't."

Most of all, I realize that as a literary entrepreneur, my business is growing to a point that I must fly.

What does this have to do with writing or taking a chance on your dreams, you might say? It has everything to do with it.

I came to this conclusion.

Faith is uncertainty.

If you have fear when embarking on a new business venture or writing project, then you're probably doing the right thing.

As a writer, or entrepreneur, we have to be willing to take chances.

We have to be willing to take risks in our work both literally and figuratively.

They say, do something you fear each day.

We have to be willing to give our dream our all, even if it means our life.

As a writer/publisher, each day I step out on faith that I'll have something useful to say.

To be a writer, (or any type of artist, pioneer, trailblazer) you must have faith.

It takes faith to look at the blank page and know that the right words will flow.

Look back at all the turning points in your life and see how they were generally propelled by fear and faith.

When I look back, one of the biggest steps I took as an adult came when I stepped into the unknown territory of the West Coast. In 1981, when I moved to LA from Detroit, I knew no one. I was afraid for the first several years in LA.

However, looking back, I have no regrets. The isolation, the loneliness, and eventually, the readjustment made me more assertive, able to grapple and survive in one of the most expensive economies in the US. These experiences contributed to my growth as a writer/publisher.

Three years ago, when I left my job after 23 years of social work, I was stepping into the unknown. Today, I have no regrets. Why? Because I discovered Divine Serendipity.

They say that in the Bible, Abraham's wife, Sarah laughed when God told her she would be giving birth to a son at the age of 90. The name Isaac means "laughter" in Hebrew. I find myself laughing everyday now as new opportunities open their doors to me since I discovered the Internet. I call it another case of Divine Serendipity.

A year ago, I was sitting around waiting on the phone to ring from my agent. Now people are calling me for assistance with their books. I thank God for having a bigger plan for me than anything I'd ever dreamed of.

The word serendipity came from Horace Walpole's book, The Three Princes of Serendip. Serendipity is a seeming gift for finding something good accidentally.

I like to think of Divine Serendipity as God's way of working small miracles in our life.

Just before I went to Cush City, I attended the National Association of Black Journalists in Phoenix, Arizona. I faced my fears and had to fly there, too.

However, I made very instrumental contacts to my future. In October 2000 I flew through stormy skies to Houston, Texas again, only this time to go on a cruise to CanCun, Mexico. Our ship tossed and rolled as we braved ten-foot waves. (It was hurricane season.) But I was at peace. Now that I've survived flying on a Crop Duster," I feel I've grown in my faith. Talking about Divine Serendipity. Little miracles happen everyday.

I remember reading that faith is knowing one of two things: that when you leap from the edge, either the ground will appear under your feet, or you'll be taught how to fly.

Copyright 2006 Black Butterfly Press