Cultivating a Spirit of Synchronicity
Photo by Jr Korpa
“We often dream about people from whom we receive a letter by the next post. I have ascertained on several occasions that at the moment when the dream occurred the letter was already lying in the post-office of the addressee.”
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely God is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17)
“[God’s] purpose is always embodied in the particular ideals relevant to the actual state of the world…Every act leaves the world with a deeper or fainter impress of God. [God] then passes into [God’s] next relation to the world with enlarged, or diminished, presentation of ideal values.” (A. N. Whitehead, Religion in the Making, 159)
Psychiatrist Carl Jung believes that our lives are shaped by our attentiveness to meaningful coincidences, or synchronous events, revealing the presence of a deeper, mostly unnoticed, intelligence or purpose at work beneath and within our conscious experience. We all have unplanned and unexpected moments when an event occurs that provides a path for new self-understanding, problem solving, or insight. Upon reflection, what appears to be chance and purposeless opens up possibilities for the future: the unexpected phone call and surprising encounter, inadvertently seeing a book noted on social media dealing with a problem we’re facing, meeting a new friend, hearing a voice from nature, feelings of concern about a friend and then the friend calls in need of care.
Photo by Jr Korpa
A friend of mine tells the story of ruminating over whether she should accept a job offer. As she pondered her situation while taking a beach walk, she was confronted by yellow strip of plastic tape flapping in the breeze, the type used by police and public works teams, announcing, “caution.” She saw this as a message regarding the job offer. She took the job but knew that she needed to be aware of the challenges that would await her. A colleague, searching the bookstacks of the university library, found a book stacked incorrectly, examined it, and discovered that the text provided a fresh way of looking at the article she’s writing. Another friend, pondering moving forward in a relationship, prayerfully asks God for a sign, and then to her shock drives through a dozen green lights on their way home, leading her to say “yes” to a relationship that eventually leads to a lifelong marriage.
Photo by Jr Korpa
Synchronicity abounds in our interdependent universe of purpose and chance. Life is more than “a tale told by an idiot, sound and fury, signifying nothing.” While there are plenty of accidents, there is also a thread of meaning moving through each moment and the long-haul of our lives. These meaningful moments of synchronicity illumine the world and guide our path forward. Jacob wakes up from dreaming of a ladder of angels and receiving a promise from God, and stammers, “God was in this place.” Indeed, “this place,” is every place, and God can be found in every moment of our lives.
“Every time I have become aware of a synchronicity experience, I have had an accompanying feeling that some grace came along with it.”
Whitehead speaks of God’s presence as an underlying and non-coercive providence moving in our lives and the world. The world lives by the incarnation of God discovered, in part, through our experiences of ideals relevant to our current multi-factorial life situation. There are, as the Celtic mystical tradition, notes “thin places,” where the divine and human meet, everywhere and potentially in every encounter. The challenge set by Jung and Whitehead is to cultivate experiences of synchronicity, of divine ideals, and providential moments.
Archbishop William Temple (1881-1944), a British naturalistic theist familiar with process theology, once noted, “When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.” Each moment reflects a variety of openings to divine guidance, often synchronously appearing in the unfolding of our lives. Wisdom comes to us through God’s aims, giving birth to each moment, along with the impact of our past history and environment. God also addresses us through possibilities coming through persons and events around us. Divine aims are profoundly individual but also intensely social. Accordingly, consciously or unconsciously, we can be the answer to someone’s prayer, and a source of unexpected guidance and support to persons around us. Others can also supply the wisdom and insight, and the presence, that provides insight for challenges we and our companions face. In a world of synchronous interdependence, we should always be open to giving and receiving blessings.
Photo by Jr Korpa
“There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the Universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what is possible.”
We can cultivate a spirit of synchronicity by opening to the ever-present messages coming from God and the universe around us, first, by believing that there is a discernable purpose in our lives and the universe, luring us not only to live, but to live well and to live better, and out of our flourishing, contribute to the betterment of the universe. Second, we can awaken to synchronous moments by simply asking for guidance in the events of our lives. Jesus counsels us to “ask, seek, and knock” and promises that we will receive what we need to be faithful and fulfilled and to be God’s companion in healing the world. Third, we need to cultivate sensitivity to synchronous moments through times of meditation and prayer, whether with your eyes closed or open. Times of quiet openness give us a larger sense of the gentle providence moving through our lives.
In the classic Black Elk Speaks, Ogalala Sioux spiritual guide Black Elk senses, as a young person, the voice of Grandfathers coming through clouds and birds, alerting him that now is time for him pursue his vocation. Others might have ignored these messages, but Black Elk was sensitive to the spirit of synchronicity and received a mystical vision and the power to carry it out.
Similar to Black Elk, my own experiences of synchronicity often come through opening to messages from the non-human world. I am regularly asked by publishers and editors to write articles and books in areas where I am uncertain about my “expertise.” At such times, I follow Archbishop Temple’s guidance and pray about the situation, asking for a sign or divine message. On several occasions, during my predawn walk, I have experienced the voices of synchronicity coming through birdsongs. In ways that philosopher-ornithologist Charles Hartshorne would appreciate, I have heard messages such as “we need you,” “you can do this” or “why not?” in chanting of the birds. While I do not believe these are supernatural communications or consciously addressed to me by the birds, I recognize that insight comes to us every millisecond and that non-humans can be vehicles of revelation. When I have taken seriously such avion guidance, I have always been rewarded by bursts of creativity enabling me to complete the task at hand, most recently in the completing of a trilogy of books on Franciscan theology. When I ask and am open to God’s gentle providence, insights come and from those synchronous insights actions emerge. There is a gentle synchronicity and providence arcing through our lives, guiding our steps and opening us to God’s vision, for God is in this place and now we know it!
Photo courtesy Jr Korpa
