The feature photo (above) is an AI generated image of the Tree of Life which existed in the Garden of Eden but no longer exists in the world, though God promises to restore it at the end of the age. It shows something that existed at the beginning of life on this planet and which will be restored at the very end when the curse is lifted once and for all.

The word “synchronicity” was used and defined by Carl Jung as”

as an acausal [i.e., noncausal] connecting principle, whereby internal, psychological events are linked to external world events by meaningful coincidences rather than causal chains.”

 The Oxford Language Dictionary defines “coincidence” as “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.”  As an example, you think of someone you haven’t thought of in years and just then you get a phone call or message from them.  There is no casual relation here.  Thinking of them did not cause them to contact you.  Nor did the fact they did cause you to recall them a priori or before the fact.

I have Deena to thank for this post.  This morning, she mentioned to me that in the two weeks since her diagnosis of a brain aneurysm, things are starting to mysteriously “fall into place.”  She and I have been trying to process this diagnosis, and I can’t begin to understand the degree to which it affects Deena, since while entirely supportive of her, I am left personally unscathed.  They may be able to repair her aneurysm from below, threading a catheter into her femoral artery and moving it to the part of her brain where the aneurysm resides.  This is called endovascular aneurysm repair, though there are other terms to designate somewhat different variations of the procedure. This would be minimally invasive.  The other approach would be to temporarily open an area in Deena’s skull and enter through the brain tissue to “clip” the artery.  Neither of these approaches sound like much fun, and there is some evidence on the web that it is not uncommon for a patient to suffer some sort of loss of function, whether physical, cognitive and so on even if the surgery, itself, is successful.  Yet, through pure serendipity, Deena heard from a person she took with her to Africa on a mission trip when the person was a teenager, and now the woman is an anesthesiologist.  She had heard that Deena had an aneurysm and asked if she could see Deena’s CT-A report.  She got back with Deena immediately after reading it to say (1) Deena should have the surgery, and (2) there was an excellent chance they would be no loss of function.  Her anesthesiologist friend had personally assisted on such procedures in the past.  So, when Deena needed direction and reassurance, it arrived in the nick of time.

This is the way I’ve learned that God works.  The erstwhile slave trader and late preacher John Newton once wrote that “God saves dying grace for a dying hour.”  What he meant was that if you need a certain resource (e.g. courage), God will often reserve it for you in safekeeping until the exact time it is needed.  The Christians that Nero arrested and sent to the Arena were scared out of their wits as they were caged among the wild beasts and taunted by the gladiators in the Hypogeum (the two levels of the basement under the Coliseum floor.) But Eusebius, the Church historian, writes that once they were called for and driven out of the dark dungeon into the bright sunlight; once they heard the roar of the crowd and felt the hot sand under their feet; and as soon as the beasts and bulls noted and charged them, their fear immediately evaporated and they met their fate with dignity and anticipation of shortly leaving this life for a better one.

To Deena, the missing pieces of the puzzle in our life are dropping into place.  We checked out her neurosurgeon.  He’s young talented, and has an impressive Vita that indicates he is respected and well-published among his peers.  And other example of a puzzle piece is that Deena’s hard work in caring for our garden has paid off and we have many gorgeous flowers as well as vegetables.  Deena recently heard from a penpal she had as a child who at the time resided in India, but has since moved to the U.S. She now looks forward to meeting the challenges ahead with the assurance that her life is in good hands.  But that does not necessarily mean there might not be a “dark night of the soul” in the recovery process.

To author Madeline Giles, synchronicities:

“are magical events that nourish and encourage our faith and trust in the deeper yearnings of our hearts. Synchronicities can remind us that we aren’t alone; we are connected, and there is a mysterious and meaningful direction to our lives. We meet strangers (who might feel like angels in disguise) in unexpected circumstances who offer us the exact words or experience we need. We see signs that give us comfort and affirmation in moments we need to stay on a path or take a new one. I believe synchronicity can serve as a messenger for our prayers – and part of the magic of synchronicity is how divinely designed and personalized it can feel.”

Signs are somewhat important me, but because I am an unusual fellow, I look for unusual signs.  I was trying to decide whether to buy a house in Texas once, and the neighbor who lived next to that house had a mule behind his residence.  I walked over after viewing the house to say “What’s up?” to the mule when he winked at me.  I knew intuitively that I should buy the house!  However, I also know that Jesus warned us to not to obsess signs. Then, again, we often let confirmation bias cloud our interpretation of events, so one must always be careful to avoid that.  Confirmation bias involves focusing those clues that support our world view to the exclusion of those that don’t. Nor should we be superstitious, because it is God, and not black cats or broken mirrors that defines our outcomes.

Paul says in Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been calledaccording to his purpose.” This post is just a affirmation that this promise written in the first century is still valid today.