coincidences

Many events are put down to coincidence and they may well be but when they do occur they are noticeable. I have quite often heard a word on the radio at the same time as I have thought or said the very same word. It just seems one of those odd things. Other happenings appear more meaningful though the meaning may be in what we make of these events.
For instance, today I have been at the hospital for treatment and one of the other patients turned out to have been at the same school as me. When we realised that we are at the same school he mentioned names and included mine without realising that I was there in front of him! Now, that was very pleasant but it could have been a near miss if we had never got into conversation - actually I chatted with his wife while he was being treated and got as far as finding out that they came from the same area as I did years ago.
Just a few weeks ago one of my daughters was at an event and somehow there was a remark that another person had a baby in Africa. Our daughter responded that her mother had too and then it came out that this person had been in the same country as us and more than that in the same part of the country and had actually worked in the same place we did and lived a few yards from where we could come a few years after them. Again, it could have been a near miss with acquaintance continuing without any of this coming out. We got to meet this lady and her husband and wondered not only about the remarkable meeting but also the question of near misses.
And I could continue. A friend used to speak of God instances and I do believe that there is providence in some of these things. Whatever the case we can take the opportunity to develop the connections that such happenings open up. And as for the near misses - perhaps they would be reduced if we opened up to one another more often.
Indeed I can continue because 2 more examples turned up in the last few weeks. A chap I saw every day for a few weeks turned out to be from the same school as me but we hadn't seen each other for 50 years and another fellow I had met a couple of years ago at a church we visited a couple of times. In both cases these would have been near misses if I hadn't started a conversation.