Synchronicity?

Have you ever had a mystical experience? How do you reconcile it with your religion and/or rational thought process?

I have been part of nine or ten religious retreats since college. About half of those retreats featured an experience that could be interpreted as a message from a higher power.

About four years ago during a solitary outdoor meditation at Holy Cross, the words "I AM WITH YOU" emerged clearly in my head; at that exact moment, a whirlpool of leaves arose before me while the trees nodded approvingly. Stunned by this bizarre moment, I laughed out loud and dared God to do it again; almost immediately, a single leaf popped up from the swirl and tumbled in my direction.

Today I returned from a three-day, two-night stay along the coast of Maine. In respect for the privacy of my spiritual sisters, I'm going to omit details. But I will share that there were many little moments which C. G. Jung called Synchronicity which means "meaningful coincidences." Synchronicity describes coincides that are really, really incredible. Science cannot prove any causal relationship as to why the events happen simultaneously, but the coincidence is too striking, too significant, and too mysterious to be dismissed.

I could make a long list, but I want to keep them between the group. I will share one Hollywood moment, though. To give some context, keep in mind that our Spiritual Direction group has meet for three years. We have shared countless emotions, thoughts, and spiritual insights throughout these years. This retreat is something of a crowning event, a chance to celebrate and begin to say goodbye. On the last night, we gathered around a campfire along the bay waters, offering prayers for quite a long time. The sharing concluded with a short service. Finally, our Spiritual Director rang the "singing bell" (an ancient Buddhist practice, apparently) with conviction. The moment the "DING!" sounded, a shooting star flashed across the night sky.

Exchanging my Mystical Mask for Cynical Spectacles, I can think of a number of explanations:
(1) In my frailty, I cannot accept the finality of death and refuse to acknowledge the inevitability of non-existence. Therefore, as a coping mechanism, my mind creates a narrative of mystical beings, affirming my naive hope in a divine afterlife.
(2) Judgment was impaired by booze, drugs, sleep deprivation, wearing the wrong eyeglass prescription, or some combination thereof. (None of these apply, BTW.)
(3) Reading religious & spiritual material in seminary predisposes my brain to observe normal, random events in nature and reinterpret them into God's-winking-at-me moments.
(4) Temporary insanity.
(5) Permanent insanity.

Believing in "signs" is not foolproof. Without question, #1-5 happen in the real world. I would also say that every person can make mistakes, and it's possible for even the most enlightened among us to misinterpret what we experience. If we do decide to believe in "meaningful coincidences," then, what are the options for reconciling them with a Judeo-Christian belief system?

A. God as the clockmaker: God creates the clock and winds it up, but what happens after that depends on the parts. IOW, this is the Deism perspective.
B. God as the micro manager: God's finger pushes the hour hand and the second hand forward every second - Calvinism.
C. God as the clockmaker who exerts divine influence infrequently and anonymously, but God is ALWAYS present. I think this represents most mainline religious views, ie Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, etc.

The extremes of A and B would be easy. In "A," a Christian could be rational and say, I don't believe in this superstitious nonsense, there's a psycho-scientific explanation. With "B," God/Jesus gets credit for every cool thing that ever happens. Found a ten-dollar bill on the ground? Hey, thank Jesus for snatching it from another person's pocket - that bill was meant for you... for your next trip to the convenience store. Praise Him!

No, I'm somewhere on the "C" spectrum. I really hope that I'm not ego-centric enough to think that shooting stars are text messages from God addressed to me and my four friends. I do believe, however, that we are part of something larger than ourselves. We have a rightful place on planet earth, a wondrous creation whose plant and animal life cannot be fully controlled or understood. When I accept the mystery, life becomes a magical, spirit-filled adventure, and God is a loving and ever-present companion along that journey.

The time with my group feels like sacred adventure, and I hope that their individual journeys continue to be magical.