What is the difference between providence and serendipity?
I was going to randomly post this on my facebook page, but as I imagined all the mad, weird, pietistic, annoying, sappy answers I would get I decided to share the question on my blog instead. Fewer readers. Hopefully less crazies.
Seriously. Tonight I had a serendipitous moment with a friend. Or a providential one. Something. One of those moments that was precious and surprising to me and to my friend and it gives me pause. Cosmic influence? Random occurrence? Influenced by the Divine?
Supposedly since I am a Presbyterian minister I should have some strong notion of providence. Supposedly.
Do you think that God actually orchestrates the meeting between two people? I know plenty of people who believe this about their partner/lover/spouse. But, from my observation, some relationships work out and some romances die and often this seems completely dependent on timing. Happenstance.
People pray for all kinds of intercession. Watch the NCAA basketball finals. You've got mamas on both sides of the court praying for divine guidance as their sons clamor for victory. I'm no expert, but I have the sneaking suspicion that God has bigger fish to fry than the NCAA finals. :-)
Winners love to claim providential care.
I don't know. I like to think that God loves all of us deeply, passionately and yes, even delights in college basketball-- draws near to those mamas as well as all who grieve and suffer and suffocate and soar. But does God orchestrate winning and losing? Living and dying? Maybe... yes... in a way. But not in that weird wizard-like fashion some of us imagine in our prayers. I hate the notion of an old, wand-carrying Diety granting wishes left and right to those he deems fit. I like the idea of a solidarity-God. But some people view the solidarity God as impotent. Tricky.
All I know is that I have had plenty of lost loves who are happily married to other women or are traipsing about the world with new lovers and I am not sure what to make of it. What feels like providence to one person is pain to another.
I don't have any clear-cut answers to any of these questions and I beg you to graciously keep silent if you do. You'll just break the hearts of the rest of us angsty folk that prefer pondering the questions.
My friend Micke reminded me tonight there is a difference between hope and belief. And a difference between belief and knowledge. There are some things I have known deep in my bones: Divine comfort, peace, and heart-breaking healing. But most days I live in hope. Hope and gratitude for all those serendipitous moments. Those two things are usually enough. They'll be enough for tonight.
3 years ago
You always have such wonderful thoughts. I don't think I have any clear-cut answers either or at least that I understand completely. I believe that God loves us, is aware of our lives, and can make opportunities for our good out of situations that might have been otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kricket. You are wise and I whole-heartedly agree with you. Yes, yes, and yes!
ReplyDeletewhat a serendipity! (mostly I speak about a coincidence with a big question mark, but I like this word a lot)
ReplyDeleteRight in this time I think and argue a lot about the difference between the wish, hope, trust and knowledge. Maybe it's a natural thing of wishes that they are never good for both parties or for all people. Consequently are trust and beliefs the only possible things for something like providence.
Sometimes, especially in love affairs, is recognizing of this devastating. That is maybe exactly the message: Do not love with an (self-referred) intention.
Just thoughts and searching for reasons and answers.
Best wishes from Germany!
This is such a wonderful post, and at just the right time, whatever word you want to use. Makes me realize that I don't really love the words "providence" or "serendipity," though. Maybe just a simple notion of "gift" is good enough. That's how I experience those unplanned, beautiful moments in life, anyway; something that’s intentional but not forced, just a surprise gift for which I'm grateful. Kind of like reading this post!
ReplyDeleteBut what about the gifts that we so badly want or need that we don't receive? I don't know: if somebody does have a real answer to that one (that's not mad, weird, pietistic, etc.), I think I might like to hear it anyway. I have spent a lot of time on the phone today with a friend who is not used to crying, but cried a lot. His deepest dreams for the future of his recently resurrected church were just crushed by the closed-minded capriciousness of a Presbytery committee, of all things. “I just can’t do this anymore,” he wept; “What more are we supposed to do?” And I would have loved to have given him an answer that was real. But I didn’t have one; all I could do was grieve with him.
I don’t know. I do think sometimes solidarity is the strongest thing that there is. Sometimes it's the only gift that really matters, because it's the only one that we can really use. Especially when our wishes aren't granted.
Anyway, thanks for the gift. I can use it!
Now is it serendipity or providence that I sit writing this message rather than checking into a hotel in Dublin Ireland? I was supposed to fly to Ireland today with one colleague and 28 students, but due to a volcano, I'm sitting at home with my family. I have wondered that this delay might save us from other problems or if it is just serendipity. We still don't know for sure when or where we will be going. Right now we have been rescheduled to fly out Monday, but we are investigating the idea of going to Krakow.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but wonder what my students may experience this weekend that they would not have otherwise and what they will experience next week when they should have already been back home. So much to think about and a whole weekend to ponder. Thanks for your very timely blog.