Do you believe in coincidences? Or, more to the point, do you believe there
are no coincidences? Do you feel that
two experiences or events that are closely related by time or space or some
other association … may have some purpose? And do you feel there’s a purpose … every time?
It’s probably a hybrid of my faith as well as life
experiences, but I fall in the No Coincidences camp. Although I will freely
admit three things: First, it will not always be clear why a specific “coincidence” occurred and it may never be clear;
not until the next life. Second, I believe our relationships in this life are
purposeful and tied together. I don’t know that it is ever any type of “coincidence”
to know the people we know. I would say, rather, it is Providence. And third,
coincidences are rarely tied to birthdays. For example, consider the following
conversation:
Friend #1: When is your birthday?
Friend #2: April.
Friend #1: MINE TOO! April WHAT?
Friend #2: April 13th.
Friend #1: Mine is the 24th! What are the odds??!
Uhm, the chances that two friends have a birthday in the same
month? I’m no mathematician, but I believe the odds are…1 in 12? That’s not a coincidence,
that’s algebra.
Anyway, I was recently listening to an NPR episode of
This American Life, and they were
re-telling stories that listeners had sent in regarding really incredible
coincidences. I mean, some truly uncanny stuff. Like a student who’s car broke down in rush
hour traffic on a busy highway and the one person who happens to stop and come
to her rescue – her dad; who lived four hours away. Or Steven and Helen, who
get engaged and when their parents meet, they find out that Steven’s dad had
dated Helen’s mom back in Korea in the 1960s. You can listen to the entire
podcast here.
Of the many coincidences in my life – some profound and
personal and some silly, here are two that jumped into my memory right away,
for whatever reason.
Coincidence One: In
January 2008 we were living in Las Vegas and our entire family took a vacation
to Florida to visit some friends and go to Disney World. It was the end of the
day at Magic Kingdom and my son decided he wanted a sword – a sword available
only at the store just outside of Pirates of the Caribbean, on the other side
of the park. Because I was campaigning for Dad of the Year, I didn't even
complain, just grabbed his hand and bolted across the park. We’re buying the
sword and the cashier looks at my credit card and license and says, “Hey, Las
Vegas! Do you like living in Vegas?”
“Sure,” I answered.
“Oh, we live in Las Vegas!” said the couple directly behind
us in line.
“Really?”
“Yes, what part do you live in?”
“Way up in the northwest,” I answered.
“So do we; we’re off the 95 and Durango.”
“So are we…we live off of Brent,” I raised my eyebrows.
“So do we, we live on Wind Warrior.”
“So do we,” I said.
Here I am, literally on the opposite end of this big country
of ours, on a random night, in a random line, in a spot that I ran across the
park to get to in a last-minute effort … to find myself standing next to a
couple who lived precisely six houses up from me back in Las Vegas. We had
never run into each other on the street or at neighborhood activities. We had
to go to Disney World to bump into each other. Coincidence?
Coincidence Two: When
I returned home from my LDS mission in the summer of 1992, my friend, Melissa,
called me the next day and asked if she could visit. We had been good friends
before I left on my mission, and I was excited to see her. We talked about life
before my mission, I told her some of my mission experiences (as RMs are want
to do) and she told me she was excited about her mission call to Iowa – where she
would be heading in about two months. Outside of my family, Melissa was the
first person I saw after my mission.
In the spring of 1994 I took a trip with some friends to St.
Louis, Missouri. As part of our trip, we took a couple of days to drive up to
Nauvoo and visit a few Church History sites. It was while we were on a tour of the
site where the Prophet was martyred that one of my friends leaned over and
whispered, “Somebody is staring at you.” I looked where my friend motioned and
standing there, in the middle of Carthage Jail, mouth wide open, completely
gob-smacked, was my friend, Melissa. You could have knocked me over with an
issue of Times & Seasons. She was
there with her parents, who had just picked her up at the end of her mission
and decided to see some Church History sites before heading home to California.
Outside of her family, I was the first person Melissa saw after her mission. Coincidence?
For the life of me, I cannot pin down any specific and
life-altering reasons for these “coincidences.” I have a couple of theories and
impressions…but I can’t point at a direct cause or effect. I don’t know the
purpose. Yet.
Do you believe…in coincidences…? What are yours?
