Coincidence? I think not.

The battle our daughter, Erin, has fought for almost two years against cancer was my inspiration for The Salt Messages.  Just before Christmas, Erin was hospitalized with a reaction to her chemo.  Of course, we couldn’t be with her while she was in the hospital, but flew to her so we could as soon as she was released.  My wife insisted on us being COVID tested, just to be safe.  We were shocked when we were told we were positive.  Fortunately, our symptoms have been mild.  But, Erin was released New Year’s Eve, and we still couldn’t see her.  WHY?  I mean, what in the world could be the purpose of not letting us be with our daughter who is so ill?

Glenn McDonald is a long-time friend.  I started to say old friend, but just the thought of that caused the “Old MacDonald” song to start playing in my head and I can’t get it out.  I didn’t want to do the same to you. 

Glenn shares his inspirational messages via his Morning Reflections, which can be found at glennsreflections.com.  He recently posted a brilliant piece, Geodes.  Reading it made me think about one of the themes in The Salt Messages, that there are no coincidences.

Our frustration at not being able to be with Erin made me re-examine the concept of coincidences.  After all, if they exist, surely, they can be mathematically proven.  

Turns out they can’t.  It is possible to approximate the probability of two or more disparate events occurring in confluence, but the existence of an apparent coincidence simply begs the discovery of the eventual explanation of the phenomenon, which negates the existence of the coincidence in the first place.  

Confused?  

Well, it may be easier to understand all of this from Einstein’s perspective.  (Trust me.)  Einstein said, “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” Hmm. 

But, not even accepting that concept has helped me to figure out the “whys” behind the daily mysteries of life, like the purpose of keeping us away from our daughter. 

After wracking my brain, I wonder if the answer is it is simply a reminder to keep looking for and keep trying to understand God’s messages in the geodes he gives us each day.

Thanks, Glenn.  You and Einstein are way ahead of me, but I keep trying.