Can you relate an experience that, when you were a believer, you thought was "of God" or "supernatural," that now that you do not believe, wonder about that experience?
As an empath, I've had plenty that I can no longer attribute to being "God-led," but seem too eerie to be coincidences.
I can't say that I've ever experienced anything someone would call supernatural.
That's probably best. It leaves no room for doubt. Thanks for the comment.
"Seem" too eerie to be coincidences is correct. And yet, these type of instances are just that. Coincidence is simply the occurence of events without an apparent causal connection... and in fact, there is no connection. Better yet is the synonym "serendipity": the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. It's just chance that leads to turning left instead of right, going into Wendy's and not Burger King, staying home instead of getting on the plane that crashes.
We look back on a significant event and tell ourselves, "Something told me to do that, I had a hunch." And when a hunch pans out, one time in 1000, we remember it. It stands out. But we forget the 999 other hunches and left turns that lead to nothing.
Humans instinctively seek to invest significance into events and find patterns that we can recognize and plan for. This is the result of evolutionary trends; those who didn't look for trends tended not to survive and pass on their genes. Superstition is our genetic inheritance.
We've all found ourselves running into people who need our help, and being able to be a hero for a day. It feels good. It's memorable. But there's no greater force steering us there. It's just life happening.
I so agree. It's a matter of being perceptive enough to notice the hundreds of coincidences that happen every day, and being smart enough to know that the law of averages predicts just that. My best test is on long car trips. I'll listen carefully to the radio -- news or music -- and watch license plates, road signs, and billboards to find unusual words common to both. It's amazing how many pop up. If I were superstitious, and not looking for it, I would insist these were "messages."
When my mother said "god's going to punish you" and I tripped and fell down at 5. Not really
You are fortunate! That comment would very likely have made a permanent impression on many kids.
Esp is real to those that are receptive to it
Could there be something like what the "psychics" do? For instance, cold reading, acute perception of physical signs, attention to the smallest details?
Angels are real to those who believe in them. People talk to them regularly. That doesn't make them objectively real.
One from myself: Riding home from a bicyle jaunt, I would have normally avoided the construction route, but SOMETHING dragged me that way and into a gas station. There, I found a woman in her car at the gas pump, sobbing over her steering wheel. I ended up filling her tank, buying her stuff from the convenience store, and giving her my last $20. She told me she didn't have enough money for gas to go to work and back for the week.
Why did I go that way? I couldn't have seen her from the road, which was torn up and dangerous for a bicycle. Why would she open her car door to a stranger? She was in an emotional, embarassing situation.
This, I can easily attribute to coincidence, but there have been so many like this.