Why is the existence of God so important to me?  The obvious reason is that I would greatly prefer to have an after-life.  In addition, given the presence of so much Evil, I would like to know if there is Justice in the Universe.  Like many people, I wish to understand why Hitler was allowed to cause so much suffering and why little children innocent of any wrong-doing are allowed to die young. 

Although I admit to a superstitious nature, I also possess a skeptical, suspicious side.  I am careful not to jump to conclusions.  When confronted with an event I consider out of the ordinary, I exhaust all other possibilities before I make my decision.  I did not know if the Parking Lot meeting or the Train Station event could be considered a Miracle, but the probability (or should I say 'improbability') of these two events being a random quirk was very unlikely.  More likely they were both examples of the Hidden Hand of God at work.  However, I still had an element of doubt.  How could I be sure an unseen hand had created my heartbreak moment in the train station?  How could I be sure an unseen hand had led Mrs. Ballantyne to my side at such a critical time? 

I got my answer in a very unusual way.  In 1970, a friend recommended I read a book written by Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung.  Memories, Dreams, and Reflections was an autobiography of sorts.  Jung was a Western scholar who gave public credibility to mystic ideas.  Jung's mother was said to have spoken with the dead.  Her embrace of the supernatural had influenced Jung and formed the basis of his controversial ideas.  Carl Jung suggested paranormal events such as precognitive dreams, premonitions, ghosts, ESP, and coincidences might turn out to be natural events for which science has not yet advanced far enough to comprehend.  In particular, I noticed Jung's emphasis on Coincidence. 

"The problem of Synchronicity has puzzled me for a long time, ever since my middle twenties when I was investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious.  I kept on coming across connections which I simply could not explain as chance groupings.  What I found were 'coincidences' which were connected so meaningfully that their chance concurrence would represent a degree of improbability that would have to be expressed by an astronomical figure.

According to Carl Jung, there are two kinds of Coincidence.  Most coincidences are unimportant and easily ignored.  However, some are 'Meaningful'.  I could be wrong, but I think 'Synchronicity' was Jung's term to describe a 'Meaningful Coincidence'.  A 'Synchronicity' suggested the presence of a Divine intelligence working a hidden magic to coordinate an event.  Hmm.  When it came to Coincidence, Mrs. Ballantyne was never far from my thoughts.  Over the past two years I had never been able to shake my mind-altering belief that an invisible being had led her to my side that day. 

Jung believed if we knew the truth about how perfectly the Universe was constructed, we would realize no one but God could possibly organize the phenomena of our world in such a profound way.  Nothing is happenstance in Jung’s world.  Not all accidents are 'Accidents'.  Jung claimed that certain coincidences are very important, but most people do not realize their significance.  If people would keep better track of these mysterious events, they would begin see their world in a much different way. 

Jung said if you look close enough, there are connections and eccentricities in life that are difficult to explain.  Unfortunately, since Synchronicity is a relatively rare phenomenon, by the time the next Synchronicity comes along, the individual has already forgotten about the previous one.  In other words, the isolated nature of these rare events keeps most people from putting two and two together.  Jung went on to say if we paid better attention to these seemingly random coincidences, we would witness a facet of a far greater reality. 

As I studied the List, I realized there was no such thing as Absolute Certainty.  Given that God is invisible, it was unlikely I would ever receive direct evidence.  On the other hand, the Parking Lot Event and the Train Station Event were 'smoking guns', the strongest kind of circumstantial evidence. 

Unfortunately, even the strongest Circumstantial Evidence still contains an element of Doubt.  For example, most testing laboratories insist on a 99.9% DNA probability of paternity.  This pattern on average fits one in every 1,000 men.  Was I willing to accept a 99.9% probability that God exists?  Perhaps others would feel differently, but 99.9% was acceptable to me. 

I assigned a 1 in 2 probability to each event on my List, a very conservative estimate.  Let me explain.  I had worked at the grocery store 4 times a week for two years.  Multiplying 4 times a week times 50 weeks in a year times 2 years, so far Mrs. Ballantyne had walked into my store one time in 400 possibilities.  However, using 1 in 2, I was assuming Mrs. Ballantyne walked in my store every other day.

What number did I have to beat?  One in a thousand is 0.001.  Using a 1 in 2 ratio, I came with 0.0009765625 after ten tries.  Using all 20 events on my List, I could have lowered the likelihood even further.  If used  a more unlikely probability such as 1 in 10, the percentage would rapidly approach zero.  As Carl Jung had suggested, "The chance concurrence would represent a degree of improbability that would have to be expressed by an astronomical figure."  

This was the birth of my 'List of Suspected Supernatural Events'.  Over the years, my List would grow by leaps and bounds.  The total stood around 60 at the conclusion of the Hidden Hand of God.  The total will approach 100 at the end of the Magic Carpet Ride. 

If there is one message that runs throughout this book, there is no such thing as Absolute Proof.  However, there comes a time when the Unbelievable starts to make more sense than any other explanation.

I admit several of my events might have had a Realistic explanation.  One event.  Two events.  Three.  Or four.  Fortunately, I possessed a massive margin for error.  All it would take to reach 99.9% was 10 events and I had 100.  In my opinion, Mrs. Ballantyne all by herself was one in a million.  Same for Train Station Emily.  How much more proof did I require?   Rather than listen to some scientist systematically debunk every single one of my 100 events, Divine Intervention struck me as the best explanation. 

I do not expect anyone to take my word for the veracity of these events.  I am a stranger to you and my credibility has not been established.  So by all means please hang on to your skepticism.  That said, at least my Readers know how I personally came to believe in God.