Many stories start with, "Once upon a time". This one doesn't, because it isn't a fairy tale. Fairy tales don't exist. In fact, according to Mary, she doubted even God existed.
It all started when she was younger. She was a victim of bullying, like many others, and like many others, she started to believe it. One hot summer day, she sat with an ice cold soda can in her hands. She slowly moved it from one hand to the other, shifting it along the table. Her mind was filled with questions, with anger, with regrets. She had heard about God because her family was always talking about Him. But she didn't understand. If God was real, which she didn't believe, where was He when all of these things were happening to her? She looked at the top of the can, wiped it dry with her fingers wrapped around the edge of the bottom of her shirt, and suddenly got an idea. She would open the soda can, and twist the cap forward and back to get answers. Leaving it to chance felt better than not having answers at all.
She took a deep breath and asked, "God, do you love me?"
She opened the can, and after the initial squirt of gas left it, she began to move it back and forth saying, "He does, he does not, he does, he does not". This went on for a couple of seconds, until she said, "he does not", and not to her surprise, with a disappointing click, the can cap separated from the can. Angrily, she shoved the cap into her right pocket.
A few years later, Mary found herself without a job, without a significant other, and without motivation. She was angry, frustrated, sad, disappointed. She looked down at the soda can she was holding in her hand, and remembered the thing she had done with the can cap a few years ago. She decided again that leaving answers to chance was better than having no answers at all, so she asked, "God, do you have a plan for me?" Again, she moved the cap back and forth saying, "He does, he does not, he does, he does not, he does", a few seconds when by, and when she said "He does not," the can cap fell apart from the can. Angrily, she put the cap into her left pocket, and went on with her day.
Many years passed, and Mary, after asking another can, she came to the conclusion that God wasn't real. The fact that it came apart just when she said, "He doesn't" seemed like too much of a coincidence to not be true. One day, strolling through the park, she put her hands in her pockets and found the can caps. Her mind was filled, over flooded, with memories, and distraught, she sat on a park bench. She clenched her fists around the caps, and began to cry in a surrender to her frustration.
Suddenly, she felt a small hand on her back. Mary flinched in surprise, and saw a small boy trying to comfort her.
"Why are you crying", the boy asked quietly. His voice was soft, and his eyes directly locked in hers, almost as if she was the small child. "What are you holding?"
Mary took the cap cans and explained to the child that she believed God wasn't real and if He did, that He didn't have a plan for her, and that He didn't love her. "I know it is silly," she said, "but I needed answers. Honestly, it is too much of a coincidence to not be true".
The boy, instead of laughing at her, took her can caps and studied them carefully. He held them in his hand so the hole with the flat side was on the left side. "Don't you see?" The boy pointed at the can caps.
He traced his fingers down the middle and said, "This is an 'I'", he smiled at her, "do you see it?"
Mary looked at the cans' cap. "The holes spell out 'Do', the answer was always there, it always said 'I Do', so He does exist, He does love you, and He does have a plan for you. I bet believing in Him is the first step".
"It is too late," Mary said, "I don't believe it".
The boy gave her back her caps, smiled, and said, "You said it. It is too much of a coincidence to not be true".
