The Circumstantial Message
Do the circumstances of life represent random events, or are they designed to communicate something meaningful to us? This is a question that would be wise for each of us to consider. Modernity inherently has a level of complexity to it that is unparalleled in human history. In light of this, the busy and varied events that transpire in our day-to-day lives certainly feel unrelated and arbitrary. There are times when this is so, yet there are occasions when the opposite is true. For one of the ways that the soul communicates is through the interconnectedness of circumstance.
The notion that seemingly haphazard events have revelatory value is certainly not new. In his theory of human consciousness, Carl Jung spoke of synchronicities, defining them as meaningful coincidences. This definition is quite useful and is very consistent with the esoteric point of view. It rightly suggests that converging events may have significance to the individual who is experiencing them. Yet their meaning is not defined by the importance of each event, but by their interrelatedness.
Suggested by this is the importance of seeing life and circumstance with new eyes. Indeed, such a sense can only emerge when the eye of the soul (third eye) is opening. Sometimes called the Eye of Vision, this formless lens sees the various elements within an environment in a holistic fashion. Through it, we begin to see that seemingly unrelated elements within a particular situation are merely the expression of an underlying unity, and it is via this that the soul speaks.
Whether talking about those moments when someone gives you news at exactly the time needed for insight to arise; when doors open to you that you didn’t realize existed; or when your eyes catch the sight of a beautiful dove while contemplating Christ-like love—each is an indication that the soul’s wisdom and guidance is cresting upon the shores of awareness.
The soul unfolds its intention through the circumstances and situations of our lives. Indeed, right interpretation of these circumstantial messages is one of the milestones upon the Way. It requires that one disengage from the linear nature of thought to sense the simultaneity of truth softly whispering through the converging events playing out in our lives. While personality understands life through the content of events presented before it, the soul unfolds its wisdom through the contextual container of those events. In other words, context gives meaning to content. Herein is an axiom of major importance.
William Meader