Noticing the Extraordinary

Sermon: March 22, 2026 . Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Dieguito

Can you remember the last time you experienced a transcendent moment or noticed the extraordinary? We all experience moments that move us, that exhibit cathartic emotions and define us as human, but what about moments that go beyond that? Some people have experiences they can’t explain, experiences that feel coincidental, touched by the divine, or even supernatural. Regardless of empirical evidence, those experiences help shape our belief structures. Experiencing the awe of nature may influence someone’s desire to protect it. Finding oneself in a coincidental moment may help steer someone to make a certain decision. Paranormal encounters may shape one’s idea of the afterlife, which can lead to altered ideas of humanity and our purpose here on earth. Each brush with the extraordinary holds immense power in our individual lives. Collectively, it can shape religions, countries, and empires. 

In the Jewish Bible, Hebrews 2:4 states “God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles.” So one would then assume that signs and wonders must be sent by the divine, but Deuteronomy 13:1-4 warned the people that you must not believe in the signs and wonders of anyone other than God for false prophets are only a test. Enter Jesus. Was he to be believed? He battled against the pervasive skepticism of his society and continued to preach his word, often telling people not to share his miracles and healings, possibly so that he wasn’t mistaken as a false prophet. However, once in frustration he said “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” (John 4:48) 

Muslims also know the power of witnessing the extraordinary. In the Quran, chapter 41:53 it states “We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the truth.” Hindu sacred texts are rich with signs and miracles. Buddhism offers the Noble Mahayana Sutra: The Teachings on Dreams, which interprets the signs experienced by the Bodhisattvas in their dreams. Many indigenous religions tell of myths and legends that contain signs to watch for, telling of good and bad things to come.

With the abundance of extraordinary moments shaping the world religions that permeate culture on a wide scale, it seems like signs and miracles should be happening constantly. Of course, we know from our experiences that’s certainly not the case and the more we know about science the less likely it seems the extraordinary actually will occur. Is God crying? No, rain is an atmospheric occurrence. Does he have a demon within him? No, that’s a brain condition called epilepsy. As science continues to debunk signs and wonders, one would think that our desire to experience them would also lessen, and yet, I still hear people share stories of extraordinary or wildly coincidental moments, moments that screamed the words “pay attention.” And many continue to seek meaning in these moments. 

We are meaning makers. We are pattern seekers. We are inquisitive and curious. When we are struck with an overwhelming feeling of awe or surprise, when the extraordinary shows up in our daily lives, we seek answers. In these rare moments, we become our 5-year old selves once again looking toward someone more knowledgeable and asking “why?” Some of us dive into research, hoping someone else knows the answer. Some of us look above, hoping the answer lies somewhere out there in the universe. Theologians aren’t the only people asking why we ask why. Philosophers and psychologists have also been wondering why these moments matter so much to us. 

Carl Jung spoke of the concept of synchronicity, which embraces these moments as more than just random coincidence and keeps them from escalating into the realm of the paranormal. He recognized that some coincidences can carry psychological significance because they unfold in the opposite direction of the way our experiences normally happen. Most of the time, we experience something and then it lives on in our minds as memories that we ruminate on. Our thoughts follow our experiences. However, coincidences are often experiences that follow our thoughts when there is an uncanny alignment between our inner state and an outer event. Jung said that there needs to be three conditions met for an experience to be synchronistic. The timing has to be right. The inner state and external event have to coincide or be close enough for us to believe they are linked. Second, there has to be a strong correspondence between them, usually consisting of a repeated element. Third, one must have not caused the other to occur. It has to seem as though the two existed by chance. Bridging the gap between our internal state and the external world is a powerful moment of connection with the world that we don’t normally experience.

I’m sure most of us recognize moments like this and at the least may have thought, “Well, that was weird.” Some of us may just chalk it up to some kind of causal explanation or random probability, but Jung thought that dismissed the important role of meaning in the human experience. Making meaning informs us about ourselves and helps us define our values and belief structures. 

Recently, during my father’s final days here on earth, my aunt was talking about receiving signs from the deceased. She was disappointed that she had never received a sign from a relative who had passed away and said that her highest hopes had been with a particular aunt of hers because, as she said, “if anyone would send a sign, it would have been her.” My aunt is someone who leans into the mystery of the universe, so she was able to brush it off with a sigh and perhaps a small hope that it will still happen one day. My father, who heard this conversation, was certain that he would dissipate into nothingness after passing, so he made no promises. This conversation made me wonder whether her faith or belief in the afterlife may have changed over time due to a lack of signs from the dead. Knowing her, I think not, but I could see how it might affect someone else. At the same time, there are others who have received signs they haven’t asked for, even signs they didn’t believe could have possibly happened until they occurred. How does that change their beliefs?

When these moments happen, it is natural for us to look for external validation in the experience, actual proof that it happened. We believe the sign has to have come from somewhere else and it probably carries with it a message of profound meaning. And it most likely does, but the answer is rarely to be found in external sources. Often the only answers can be found within. 

When something extraordinary happens, instead of focusing on the event itself, we should turn our attention to our reaction to the event. For example, if my aunt were to receive a sign and experience a moment touched by the divine, it should encourage her to ask herself: What state of mind led me to recognize this moment? How do I feel about connecting with those I have lost? Where do I think they are? Why is this a moment I want to remember? What does this tell me about my beliefs and values? 

Focusing on synchronistic moments as opportunities to get to know ourselves and our minds is a fascinating exercise for spiritual growth. The more we open ourselves up to experiencing these moments, the more opportunities we have to foster wisdom and understanding of ourselves and the universe. In his article “Was that a Coincidence or Something More Profound?” historian Edward Reid says “Jung believed that recognizing and reflecting on these synchronistic events could enhance self-awareness, provide guidance, and deepen our understanding of the interconnectedness of mind and matter.” He goes on to state that beyond that, “It invites us to recognize the hidden connections and patterns that exist in the world, encouraging a broader perspective that transcends linear cause-and-effect thinking.”

Retired medical doctor Bernard Beitman has a podcast called “Connecting with Coincidence.” He is trying to normalize synchronicity and serendipity as helpful psychological and spiritual aids. One of his episodes featured philosopher Alicen Grey who spent her younger years searching for signs, interpreting most of her experiences as signs, and thus feeling guided by external forces and not her inner sense of wisdom. She is not alone. Letting oneself be guided by external signs can be a slippery slope into conspiracy thinking, patternicity, and apophenia, which is the human tendency to perceive meaningful patterns within random, meaningless data or noise. Recognizing patterns is normal for humans to do and has helped us greatly in our survival and evolution, but can also be prevalent in certain mental disorders like schizophrenia.

Researcher and philosopher Jules Evans says “The conspiracy theorist suffers from what William James called ‘diabolic mysticism’. Everything is connected, nothing happens by chance. But every clue, rather than pointing to God, points to an evil demon, or cabal of demons, who control the world.” Luckily, philosopher Alicen Grey didn’t go as far down the road as conspiracy theorists, but she did feel adrift for many years as she followed signs that wafted her this way and that with no sense of center. Now, she realizes that the signs weren’t coming from outside of her. She says “They weren’t coming from some external authority. Signs weren’t permission to act on a certain desire. They weren’t guidance from an angel, they were a delayed echo from my own inner world. Once I started getting into the practice of noticing a synchronicity, [once] I realized that was my sign to go back inward and trace back my thoughts until I found the state of being that had then resulted in that synchronicity, I started becoming much more aware of what was actually going on in my inner world.”

Using extraordinary moments as opportunities to turn inward is a gift we can give ourselves. What that means, however, is that we have to stay open to perceiving the extraordinary, in whatever form it comes, not to be a blind believer, but to continue to question, to inspire our curiosity in the world and in ourselves. Jules Evans says, “I don’t know about you, but I find I move up and down the continuum of enchantment. Sometimes the universe seems a random casino. And sometimes it seems so flooded with eery signs and correspondences that it feels like a dream, or a novel. To be a good mystic, we can try to be a good reader of our life… We can be alive to patterns, coincidences, subtexts, metaphors, symbols and correspondences, but always with a light touch, never heavy-handed, never making too much of any particular thing. Even if you don’t believe in God or a cosmic moral order, you can still practice this sort of close-reading of your life and times.”

The idea of close-reading one’s life is the kind of spiritual work that encourages growth, acceptance, and understanding, even if that understanding is that we don’t understand very much at all. Knowing what we don’t know is grounding and humbling. In order to seek answers and lean toward truth, we have to first start from a place of wonder and curiosity, a place where we notice the extraordinary. Paying attention to the remarkable, whether it’s a perfectly symmetrical flower or a strange coincidence, can enhance our understanding of the world and of how we feel about it. Some moments may become understandable, while some may remain mysterious. I don’t know about you, but that’s the world I want to live in, one that I can grow to understand and also one that will surprise me with seemingly magical, transcendent moments. There is beauty, movement, and life in both visions of this world. So, while I’m not expecting or waiting for a sign from my father, I’m also keeping alive the part of me that is ready to notice a sign, if it chooses to come my way. May we all remain open to the extraordinary and to the parts of ourselves that seek meaning and understanding. Amen.  

OTHER READINGS FOR REFLECTION:

Emily @intentional.momlife

“I’m not trying to make every moment magical. I’m just trying to be there when the magic happens.”

Love is a Magic Ray by Khalil Gibran

Love is a magic ray

emitted from the burning core

of the soul

and illuminating

the surrounding earth.

It enables us

to perceive life

as a beautiful dream

between one awakening

and another.

Such Silence

by Mary Oliver

As deep as I ever went into the forest

I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,

and around it a clearing, and beyond that

trees taller and older than I had ever seen.

Such silence!

It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed

all the clocks in the world had stopped counting.

So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.

Sometimes there’s only a hint, a possibility.

What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots

than reason.

I hope everyone knows that.

I sat on the bench, waiting for something.

An angel, perhaps.

Or dancers with the legs of goats.

No, I didn’t see either. But only, I think, because

I didn’t stay long enough.