by Bob Romero
There is a term in some of the metaphysical books that I’ve read, called “Synchronicity” which means “meaningful coincidences of two more events.” According to online definitions like Oxford and Wikipedia, the reason the events are meaningful coincidences is because they are related to each other, but yet the odds of them happening together, are extremely small. Analytical psychologist Carl Jung first came up with the term, synchronicity, to describe this phenomenon. He had discussions with Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Pauli to see if synchronicity could be explained by relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Divine intervention can also be another reason. Spiritual authors and teachers say that there are no such things as coincidences. Maybe God is using quantum physics to cause synchronicity. They also seem to happen more often when you meditate or stay centered.
I started thinking of events that have happened to me in the past, that could be considered synchronicity. One example is when I made travel reservations to attend a conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, and I wanted a direct flight. For some strange reason, the travel agent said that a direct flight would cost $1,500 but using a connecting flight through Chicago Midway would only be $500. So, I agreed to take the cheaper flight and save the company some money. The next day, a colleague friend of mine asked the same agent for a direct flight, and she booked it for him for $600. I immediately called the travel agent to do the same for me. She said that it would cost $700 to make the change. I was furious, but I went along the original travel arrangements. I flew out on Sunday and was not able to attend mass before I left and would get to Indianapolis way too late for any services there. I like to attend mass not for the obligation, but because it makes me feel good. After I arrived at Chicago Midway airport, I headed toward my connecting gate when I saw a sign at a nearby gate that said, “Catholic Mass at this gate on Sundays at 5 p.m.” I was somewhat surprised at seeing this, as I had never come across anything like it before, in my business travels. I thought to myself “Too bad I won’t be able to attend because that’s when my flight leaves.”
Then I heard an announcement over the PA system that my flight was delayed by an hour. “What a coincidence,” I thought, and I was able to attend mass which lasted only a half an hour. I had a good feeling not only for the rest of the trip, but throughout the entire conference. Then on the way back, I’m sitting with my friend at the Indianapolis airport who was teasing me that he will arrive in Denver long before I will. But I was still feeling good about the flight out, and then I heard my name announced over the loudspeaker to go up to the counter. When I went there, the flight representative said that my flight to Chicago was overbooked and asked me if I could take the direct flight to Denver. For doing this, they would also give me a $300 travel voucher. I said “Let me get this straight. You’re putting me on the direct flight to Denver so that I get home sooner, and you’re giving me $300?” They replied that that was indeed the case, and so I responded, “I think that I can do that.” When I went back to sit next to my friend, I told him “Ha ha, not only am I on the same flight as you, but I also got a $300 travel voucher.” He just shook his head.
Another example was when I was grocery shopping at King Soopers on a Saturday morning before class. I had to go in the morning because of a conflict in the afternoon. I thought that I had allowed plenty of time, but the store was very crowded. So, I moved along quickly so that I would not be late for class. Then there was an elderly woman taking her sweet time, picking some mushrooms. She saw that I was in a rush, and she asked me if I needed to get some mushrooms. “Oh no”, I replied, “You were there first, and don’t rush because of me.” After she finished, I got what I needed, and moved on. I made good time, and it looked like I would have more than enough time, but the checkout lines were long. As I was looking for a short line, a new line opened just where I was at. A cashier had brought a customer in, that was standing in another line.That was great though, because now there was only one customer ahead of me, compared to all of the other lines. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. However, when the cashier totaled the bill for me which came to $130, the screen went blank and her system had crashed.
“Oh no,” I thought to myself, “Now I’ll have to go to another line and have all of my groceries re-scanned!” The cashier told me to wait as she went to talk to her manager. She came back and said “Enjoy!” I looked at her dumbfounded and said “What?” She said that I could go and did not need to pay. I think that I floated from there to my car in the parking lot. There are many more examples that I have thought of, that are similar, but there is not enough space in the newsletter to write about all of them. I do think that it is good to journal them or begin to journal them to see how many times these wonders happen. And if things don’t work out, maybe it’s a test to see you can stay centered and overcome any obstacles. Some people believe in Murphy’s Law, and they get what they believe in.
I would like to close with a tiny little example. We were asked in class by our teacher, to think back to our childhood and remember the first feelings of joy that we had. What I remembered first, was seeing pretty Christmas lights that were the dark translucent colors of red, green, and blue. He suggested to find similar lights and put them on my altar. I have always liked these clear dark colors. They are so rich and pure that I just enjoy gazing into them. I also remembered the marble collection that I had, when I was little, where some marbles were solid or opaque, some that were called “cat eyes”, and others, that my friends and I labeled “clearies.” My favorite were the clearies because they were the clear dark colors that I really enjoyed looking at. So, I went to the bookstore and described to the owner of what I was trying to do. He thought about it and said that he had these inexpensive candle holders that were transparent dark colors. I looked at them and said, “They’re perfect!” They were beautiful and exactly what I wanted. I bought four of them, which were dark blue, dark red, dark green, and dark purple. He said that they had arrived the night before. We looked at each other, smiled, and we both said “Synchronicity!” And I thought “Hmm, also the topic of my next article.”
Bob Romero has been a diligent student of esoteric spiritual subjects and metaphysics for many years, with a life-long quest for answers. He has submitted new and original articles that focus on life lessons and experiences he wishes to share with our readers and the world.