God Winks –How the power of Coincidence Guides Your Life Part I | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This is the first part of a two part series. Here you will find the second part.

How a book made me re-evaluate some of the events in my life.

    The book "When God winks" by Squire Rushnell covers those little instances when you chalk things up to coincidences but they really may be just a little nudge from God to remind you "I'm am still here watching you"

    The subject of interpretation events in life has come up on this site and it brought to mine the book referenced above. The book makes the proposal that maybe not all those little quirks in life are the result of random coincidence. It is a quick read and is only 162 pages long but it has had a profound effect on my life and my perception of things that happened to me along the way.

    Here is the premise:

    COINCIDENCE: A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.

    WINK: To give a signal of express a message

    GOD WINK: A personal signal or message directly from a higher power, usually, but not always in the form of a coincidence.

    I offer just a few personal God Winks that I have had in Life. At the time, I just chalked them up to coincidences but after reading the book, I have reviewed many of these random occurrences and found some alternative interpretations. I may be right or I may be wrong but it has given me a second chance to evaluate.

• On April 4, 1968, my Army infantry unit was embarking on a Reconnaissance in force (RIF). I had only been in country since February 6. My assignment that day was on point duty with two other grunts (I will let you research that). Just as we were getting ready to move out, one of the guys in my platoon came to me and asked to swap out so he could be with his best friend that day. That was not an uncommon thing so I swapped with him. Later that morning our unit walked into an NVA ambush and two out of the three on point were killed, including the guy who had swapped jobs with me. I chalked it up to good luck and went on with my tour.
• The second Wink came in July 1993. My favorite uncle had designated me to be the executor of his will. We had many meetings as his health declined and he instructed me as to his wishes which extended beyond the legal particulars. His will gave me wide latitude in the disposition of his assets. On the morning of July xx, 1993, I was at a customer's office about 10:00AM when I had a severe pain in the back of my head. It felt like a hammer had hit me in the head. I almost fell down but was able to regain my senses. This was before everyone carried cell phones and my secretary had my detailed itinerary. In less than ten minutes, the switchboard got a call from my office saying I had a family emergency and to call the hospital. I called the hospital and got in touch with my mother. She explained how my uncle Aldo, had a heart attack while she and my dad were taking him to breakfast at Mrs. Weiner's fast food restaurant. He had fallen in the parking lot and bumped his head on the concrete. I immediately went to the hospital and he was awake and alert but then had another massive heart attack and died. I have never had that pain in the head again.
• In April 2000, I bought my son a new Dodge Dakota pickup. As we were leaving the tag office, I casually mentioned to my son. You should think your Uncle Aldo for this truck; he started the college fund with a thousand dollar donation when you were born. I named my son after my Uncle Aldo thirteen years before Aldo's death. I had invested the money and added to it over the years. If funded the purchase of the truck. When we got to the truck, I took the tag out of the envelope to install on the truck and I almost fainted. The tag was 6826 AEG. My uncle's name was Aldo Emilio Garoni (AEG). He signed all his personal notes to me with "AEG".

    So there you have it. I have no way of knowing the difference between coincidence and God Winks but I do know that every time something seems to be just a little too spontaneous, I say to a little prayer "Thank you God, let me learn from this lesson"