…Is it true?? Are there really no coincidences? I think it is true, hard though it is to fathom. I think there’s a fine line between ‘pre-destination’ – the notion that God determines our fate, that we have no say in the matter – and ‘free will’ – that we control our destinies, we are not just pawns in a big chess game of life and the universe. I believe that there really are no coincidences. I chalk this up as something our puny little mortal brains just can’t grasp, and I’m ok with that.

The major ‘A-ha!’ moment came to me a few years ago, as I was cleaning the bathroom and grumbling over my husband’s shaven whisker remnants in the sink and on the counter. “Grrrr! Why is he so messy?! Is he really this lazy, or does he think I’m his MAID?!” …And somehow, out of nowhere (i.e. a moment of Divine inspiration, I reckon!), it dawned on me: there are no coincidences . “But what benefit could possibly come out of my lazy/self-righteous husband leaving shavings on the counter??” I wondered. I pondered a moment, and then it kind of just dawned on me: “…Oh: it’s about letting go.” I realised that, in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter that he’d left some shavings on the counter. In the grand scheme of things, he was (is!) a wonderful husband, he’s kind, he’s generous, he’s fun, he’s funny – it doesn’t matter that there are some shavings on the counter.

Ah. Right; silly me – and thanks for the teachable moment, God!!

…That’s all well and good: we can stop there and appreciate that a lesson was given, a lesson was learned, the end. Or, as a matter of interest, we can take this conversation a step further and look at the correspondence, the internal sense of this story. Sure, there may not be a deeper meaning to this tale; it’s just a dopey little first-person ‘a-ha’ account! But, then again, there might just be.

Hair, or the hair on the head, is mentioned several times in the Word, and in those places means that which is natural, the reason being that hairs are outgrowths on the most exterior parts of a person. (Secrets of Heaven 3301)

Was I moved by these outermost, natural little things? Why, yes, it would seem that I was! It was through these natural things scattered on the counter-top that my eyes were opened to the reality that they are just natural little, meaningless things, of no consequence… except that they helped me appreciate that there are no coincidences .