A Conspiracy of Grace: 30 Days in the Future Saints Club

How much of our will is truly our own?

This past month, a simple experiment invited me to ponder that question. Nayaswami Jyotish, Spiritual Director for Ananda Worldwide, recently proposed the idea of a “Future Saints Club”: choose one small goal toward sainthood, commit to it for 30 days, and journal the journey. A contract, he said, between you and God.

I chose to rise early.

The First Gift: Joy Before Dawn

I didn’t expect rising early to feel like joy, but grace met me in the quiet hours before dawn. Out on the lawn, practicing the Energisation Exercises, I watched the stars fade, the moon shift through its phases, and the sky blush with its first colours. The birds sang their morning chorus and what began as discipline became a true delight.

The Deeper Gift: Strength for What Was Needed

Life, as it often does, asked more of me this month than I anticipated. Looking back, I can see how the extra hours — and the enthusiasm that came from rising early — were exactly what I needed to meet what was ahead. Paramhansa Yogananda offers this insight:

“Remember, in your will is the will of God.”

Was this early rising truly my idea—or was it God’s behind-the-scenes preparation—a conspiracy of grace for what was coming?

Footsteps of Guidance

Swami Kriyananda tells the story of a woman instructed by Swami Sivananda to rise at 4 a.m. Each morning, she heard the sound of wooden sandals on her porch, knocking at her door. No one was there, but the sound got her out of bed —and she’d meditate.

I didn’t hear any footsteps. Yet I did feel the unseen hand of God waking me up each morning, and His strength flowing through me as I moved through my days.

An Invitation

Yogananda offered this encouragement:

“Take up one little thing that you think you cannot do. Try with all your might to accomplish that one thing… You must use your will power, no matter what you are, or who you are.”

Perhaps each of us has a doorway waiting to open the moment we take a single step toward God. If your heart stirs at this thought, choose one simple goal, commit to it for 30 days, and see what grace conspires to do.

Claim your membership in the Future Saints Club—not as a badge of discipline, but as a way of discovering God’s presence in the smallest steps.