Co-winky-dink?
Einstein has allegedly been quoted to say that coincidence is what God does to remain anonymous...or something like that. Since I just heard a television character say this, I cannot vouch for its veracity. Either he was drunk or joking but I cannot imagine him saying this with any measurable preponderance because it would first preclude that God wants to be anonymous....which in my estimation would negate His desire to even be. I don't mean to be so philosophical in such a pedestrian sort of way. So let's get on with my usual banalities.
I am one of those people who, upon experiencing a cosmic synchronicity, can dig meaning into it and then add it to my growing list of signs and markers that led to events in my life---some great and some small. Yeah. I don't believe in coincidences. I believe they are REAL signs and markers. I agree. It's fatalistic. But they are MY coincidences and the meanings are only significant to me and only me. No one else owns them.
Take for example, my husband's middle name which has been the source of vapid teasing because instead of a name, he has a letter. An initial. No one really knows what it means. His siblings all have proper middle names but only he has a letter. It's the letter C. I can sort of...feel for him but I say that it's a sign. Oh yeah. My name does not begin with the letter "K" as most Kristi's do. But yeah, my name starts with a "C". Now his name is complete because he has me. Is that a coincidence? Could be. But not to me. Now that coincidence has meaning and it's a cosmic synchronicity.
Even our birthdays have meaning as I see it. My husband was born in March, the same month and year as my sister---my ONLY sibling. Is it a coincidence that the only sibling who will journey through life with me as my only link to the same parents would be born the same time as the one who will complete me...who will be my eternal companion? The meaning is huge to me. It's cosmic synchronicity.
My husband and I met while students at BYU-Hawaii. He didn't even know about BYU-Hawaii until after his mission and he happened upon some brochures about it. It intrigued him. It felt good to him. And with nary a tangible reason other than a hunch, he took off from Pleasant Grove, Utah to attend BYU-Hawaii in Laie. He arrived there in the winter of 1979. I had barely left the previous fall of 1978 to serve a full-time mission for the LDS church missing him by a mere 4 months. While he was getting acclimatized to the culture of the islands, I was back in Europe where he had just served. By the time I returned, he was ready for me. Coincidence? Nah. Cosmic synchronicity. No Filipino national had ever been called to serve a mission in Europe. I was the first. Ever.
How about this---when my husband's parents decided to go on a mission, years after we were married, where do you think God would send them? Of course! To the Philippines! I am the only in-law who is NOT American. A foreigner. Culturally SO different. Ethnically different. Racially....I am of the 'well-done' variety who married someone of the "Not-Quite-Cooked" variety. (Laugh track please...) But it isn't a coincidence that the Lord would send them to my homeland. It was an opportunity for them to get to know my culture, my heritage, my language, my music....everything that should bring us closer together and perhaps give meaning and more joy to their posterity through my lineage. It would have been a great opportunity for ALL his family members to do so....to dig in and find the divine in our union--in the union of two countries. I don't know if that happened..in fact, I'm SURE it didn't. There were definitely many missed opportunities there. But it could have. And that's another blog and I digress. But it's NO coincidence. It was the hand of God. A cosmic synchronicity whose magnificent, profound and far-reaching meaning is visible only to me. Sadly.
There's plenty more to list but let me just end with a whopper of all coincidences: The day we got married, the Fauxes borrowed some chairs from the chapel to use for the reception which was going to be held in their backyard. My parents had flown straight from Manila, Philippines for this occasion. As we walked along the beautiful flowery paths, my father stopped short and exclaimed, "Manilla Ward?" Behind the folding chairs were stenciled these words. Oh yeah. My husband practically grew up in a small community in Pleasant Grove, Utah specifically called Manilla...yeah, named after Manila, Philippines. (Spelled incorrectly of course...but what do you expect from PG?) We were both from Manila but from different sides of the world. True story.
Coincidence? Nah. Cosmic. Synchronicity.
There are NO coincidences. All things are in order. All good things are brought together in perfect harmony.
I am one of those people who, upon experiencing a cosmic synchronicity, can dig meaning into it and then add it to my growing list of signs and markers that led to events in my life---some great and some small. Yeah. I don't believe in coincidences. I believe they are REAL signs and markers. I agree. It's fatalistic. But they are MY coincidences and the meanings are only significant to me and only me. No one else owns them.
Take for example, my husband's middle name which has been the source of vapid teasing because instead of a name, he has a letter. An initial. No one really knows what it means. His siblings all have proper middle names but only he has a letter. It's the letter C. I can sort of...feel for him but I say that it's a sign. Oh yeah. My name does not begin with the letter "K" as most Kristi's do. But yeah, my name starts with a "C". Now his name is complete because he has me. Is that a coincidence? Could be. But not to me. Now that coincidence has meaning and it's a cosmic synchronicity.
Even our birthdays have meaning as I see it. My husband was born in March, the same month and year as my sister---my ONLY sibling. Is it a coincidence that the only sibling who will journey through life with me as my only link to the same parents would be born the same time as the one who will complete me...who will be my eternal companion? The meaning is huge to me. It's cosmic synchronicity.
My husband and I met while students at BYU-Hawaii. He didn't even know about BYU-Hawaii until after his mission and he happened upon some brochures about it. It intrigued him. It felt good to him. And with nary a tangible reason other than a hunch, he took off from Pleasant Grove, Utah to attend BYU-Hawaii in Laie. He arrived there in the winter of 1979. I had barely left the previous fall of 1978 to serve a full-time mission for the LDS church missing him by a mere 4 months. While he was getting acclimatized to the culture of the islands, I was back in Europe where he had just served. By the time I returned, he was ready for me. Coincidence? Nah. Cosmic synchronicity. No Filipino national had ever been called to serve a mission in Europe. I was the first. Ever.
How about this---when my husband's parents decided to go on a mission, years after we were married, where do you think God would send them? Of course! To the Philippines! I am the only in-law who is NOT American. A foreigner. Culturally SO different. Ethnically different. Racially....I am of the 'well-done' variety who married someone of the "Not-Quite-Cooked" variety. (Laugh track please...) But it isn't a coincidence that the Lord would send them to my homeland. It was an opportunity for them to get to know my culture, my heritage, my language, my music....everything that should bring us closer together and perhaps give meaning and more joy to their posterity through my lineage. It would have been a great opportunity for ALL his family members to do so....to dig in and find the divine in our union--in the union of two countries. I don't know if that happened..in fact, I'm SURE it didn't. There were definitely many missed opportunities there. But it could have. And that's another blog and I digress. But it's NO coincidence. It was the hand of God. A cosmic synchronicity whose magnificent, profound and far-reaching meaning is visible only to me. Sadly.
There's plenty more to list but let me just end with a whopper of all coincidences: The day we got married, the Fauxes borrowed some chairs from the chapel to use for the reception which was going to be held in their backyard. My parents had flown straight from Manila, Philippines for this occasion. As we walked along the beautiful flowery paths, my father stopped short and exclaimed, "Manilla Ward?" Behind the folding chairs were stenciled these words. Oh yeah. My husband practically grew up in a small community in Pleasant Grove, Utah specifically called Manilla...yeah, named after Manila, Philippines. (Spelled incorrectly of course...but what do you expect from PG?) We were both from Manila but from different sides of the world. True story.
Coincidence? Nah. Cosmic. Synchronicity.
There are NO coincidences. All things are in order. All good things are brought together in perfect harmony.
3 comments:
That's beautiful. I'll have to tell you another thought I had sometime.
Do tell before you forget!!!
I think this happened to me not but an hour ago. I was feeling a little off thinking about how it seems like I have little control over what's happening around me, so I was doing dishes and cleaning in order to control something.
I kept asking God to take the feeling away because I didn't like it and I wanted to feel hopeful and optimistic, and all the while, there was this melody going through my head.
When I stopped to notice what it was, these were the lyrics:
"The snow is snowing / the wind is blowing / but I can weather the storm / what do I care / how much it may storm? / I've got my love to keep me warm."
And then I felt a lot better.
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