I had a Reiki session with a young man who had been out of contact with his birth mother for over twenty years. He kept bringing her up in our discussion. When I asked if he wanted to reconnect with her, he told me emphatically,” No, I don’t need her in my life and besides she hasn’t reached out in over twenty years!” His lack of forgiveness and denied desire for contact with her were the roots of many of his ailments.

As we concluded that first Reiki session, I mentioned, “If you do happen to connect with your mother this week, please pause and remember your Intention.” He was quick to correct me, “Ravi, I really like this work but it’s going to take a miracle for my mother and I to reconnect. She hasn’t reached out in over twenty years!” I smiled and he walked out of the office. Five minutes into my next session, there was a knock on my door. When I opened it, there he was, panic-stricken face and his phone pressed firmly to his ear.

Coincidence is a very interesting word. Dictionary.com defines it this way: “A striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.” Its root word, coincide, means to occupy the same place in space, the same point or period in time, or the same relative position and to correspond exactly, as in nature or character. The English language has always been a strange beast, and it gets even more strange.

I have been experiencing coincidences throughout my life. In fact, I have many childhood memories of tagging along behind my mother, brothers and friends telling them elaborate tales of how many things “popped” up in my day that I knew were all connected. At first, they tried to explain how these were just random events and that I was connecting them together. Later in my life, they would just alternate between blank stares and glances at their watch, eager for me to shut up so they could get on with their day.