How many times have you walked into a room to find someone you haven't seen in years...and wouldn't have seen if you hadn't left the house earlier that day?

How many times have you just missed getting into an accident but didn't because the phone rang as you're walking to the car which stole a few precious seconds that prevented your almost untimely arrival?

What about the times you did miss an old friend? Got into an accident? Coincidence or not?

I've been thinking about coincidences and the way we relate to them. About a month ago, there was a huge fire across the street from my house. About 40-50 acres or so...out of all the people that stopped, I was the only one video taping the firemen doing some incredibly back breaking work. I wasn't even there when the fire broke out. My neighbor called my cell phone while I was shopping. She said "you need to return asap and grab your pups and papers in case we evacuate"

Luckily and mostly due to the men with yellowish coats the neighborhood was spared any mandatory relocation efforts. THe first thing I did when I arrived home was grab the video camera. Heck, my neighbors had grabbed some beach chairs and were watching the flames from the curb across the street.

Was it coincidence that instead of driving to my intended destination (much farther) I stopped and said "this is nice" and was only there for less then 5 minutes when I received the call. Was it coincidence that the day before, Sheriffs had an altercation with homeless people living in the same mountain area where the fire started? Was it coincidence?

The week after I was driving in morning traffic, realized I forgot something at home, got off the freeway, went back and picked it up, returned to the freeway only to find a major backup due to an injury accident? After listening to traffic reports about the accident, it occured almost within minutes of turning back. Kinda creepy, huh?

Maybe I'm reading too much into naturally occuring events or perhaps there's something at work silently performing chores we have no idea ever existed.

Any thoughts?