Coinkydinks

Coinkydink? I think not.
(Courtesy qthful @ Flickr)

Interesting is the notion of coincidences: those events that occur close to each other in time or space and somehow appear related, but are likely not related at all. We see them all the time in our lives, or at least we think we do. We'll look at some clock several times in a week and - coincidentally - it's always 10 minutes after 10. You suddenly think about calling your grandmother to say hello and the phone rings and it's grandmother on the other end. Some of these are simply the less likely co-occurrence of random events. Others, well, maybe or maybe not. Some are just amusing - as in the strip mall photo here. Others, provoke thought or reflection rather than laughter. A recent personal example is next.


WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT: 15:58 pace for neighborhood 3-mile walk.

THURSDAY'S WORKOUT: 11:13 pace for Lakes 4-mile run/walk/run, a little faster than the planned 11:28.

FRIDAY'S WORKOUT: Another nearly perfect 15:57 pace for the three-miler around the neighborhood. Just about the two mile marker, with the timelapserunner's mind pretty much free-floating, he glances at a mailbox and sees in the largest of decals the number '1150.' With the mind free-floating and free-associating, the thought of our local talk radio station at 1150 AM on the dial comes to mind. No coincidence there, of course. My mind immediately reflected on how common it is to run into numbers that mean two things, like a street address and a radio station frequency.

As we continue walking the neighborhood course, my mind recalls another of those non-coincidence number associations. My mind drifts to the thought that my office number at work is 316 and of course a pivotal verse in the bible is John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." I had often thought that that was a nice coincidence: that I'd have an office number that would daily remind me of perhaps the most significant article of faith for a Christian. Again, that's not a really strange coincidence, just a slightly improbable event matched with something of great personal significance. Two events or situations that probably are not related at all, other than the same number being involved.

I continue home to complete my morning ritual before heading off to work: shower, get dressed, prepare breakfast, and eat breakfast while reading the bible readings and reflection from the Creighton University website. The daily bible readings are those used for that day's Catholic Mass. Typically these include an Old Testament reading, a reading from the Psalms, a New Testament reading, and a selection from one of the Gospels.

By now you know where the timelapserunner is headed. Yes, the Gospel reading for Friday, September 14th, 2012 was from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 3, verses 13 through 17.

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.

Just one more quote before I close this report:

“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.” ― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It