I had breakfast and devotions at a local restaurant one Friday morning recently as is my custom. It was one of those good times where the Spirit seems especially close and we are able to commune. After breakfast I went for a walk around the block where my house is located and was still walking and talking with the Lord. Part way around there was a bird on the sidewalk but he didn’t fly when I approached. He just hopped along staying a couple feet ahead of me. He or she I don’t know how to tell with most birds, would look at me take a few hops and stop, then, repeat. I took great pleasure in watching him,

This same kind of thing has happened before during times that I would describe as being ‘in the Spirit’. A few weeks or days (I really don’t remember) before I was on my deck meditating and one of my favorite birds a Gold Finch landed on the railing nearly in front of me and just stayed there. I was thrilled.

Here is the question were these accidents of nature or the Holy Spirit manifesting herself to me, sort of conformation that we were sharing a moment together.

I have read of more dramatic signs that the authors were convinced were evidences of the reality of the existence of God active in our universe. One was when a man was in a bar at an airport fortifying himself preflight. He was very fearful of flying. He noticed something laying on the bar in front of him that turned out to be a tie tack with his initials on it.

To me this seems like just a coincidence, an unusual one perhaps but not of any significance. To him it was much more. He explained it this way; to find a tie tack with one of his initials would be interesting. To find one with two of his initials would be unlikely but the odds against finding one with all three of his initials and in the correct order are astronomical. This became a message to him that he was doing the right thing and the right time. God inserting himself into his affairs with a tie tack and saying good job keep going.

So when is a sign, a sign and coincidence, a coincidence? Does God actually drop little hints along the way? Does He allow little rips in the barrier between us to get our attention now and then? I find a answer for this in one of the strangest concepts of Quantum Physics. This is based, of course, on my belief that God speaks of His nature and methods through His creation.

There are four principles of Quantum Mechanics. They are Wave functions, Allowed states, Probability and Measurement. The one I want to look at is measurement. The Quantum Mechanical definition of measurement goes like this, “Measuring the state of an object absolutely determines the state of that object.” (How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Chad Orzel, Pg 59.) This means that if you measure the position of an electron, for example, your measurement determined its’ position. I have written about this kind of strangeness before. The probability wave form of an electron can be equal in more than one position, therefore is can be in more than one place at the same time. What Quantum Mechanics is saying is that it exists at both places at the same time until an observer measures its’ position. At that point it exists only at the measured spot.

I think the signs are like that as well. What they are is determined by who sees them. To the spiritually astute they are fingerprints of God. To the spiritually unaware they are coincidences. Maybe this analogy isn’t 100% but I kind of like it.

Have a blessed week and watch the signs.