As I was doing a bit of study this week, I stumbled across this bit of trivia. The King James Bible was published in 1611, the year Shakespeare turned 46. Now get this: in Psalm 46 of the King James Bible, the 46th word is "shake" and the 46th word from the end is "spear." What a coincidence, isn't it? It kind of matched a coincidence from earlier in my week.

Truth be known, I meet some of the nicest and most interesting dead people. People like Peggy in the parlor of a local funeral home. Actually, I met Peggy through the articulate voices of her family. Peggy had been a dancer and a singer with the USO, and often performed in France when it was safe enough to entertain the weary troops in the months following D-Day. It was there, in France, Peggy met her husband. Sort of. And this is where it gets really interesting.

Nick tells the story this way. "One day Peggy and other performers were walking along a country road near the army base, and a single German plane appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. The pilot began to strafe them, with the bullets chewing up the plants and vegetation by the side of the road ... missing the people by about fifteen feet." And Nick continued, "Pastor, Peggy told me this story when we met after the war, on a blind date. We talked for hours and before the evening was over, we were engaged. How could I fall in love so quickly? It happened when Peggy told me even though she was so angry with the German pilot until she became convinced, as she put it, 'he missed on purpose, and didn't really want to hurt us ... and I forgave him for frightening us so badly.' She was the most compassionate person I ever met, and it was her insight and outlook that made me want to marry her" And Nick concluded, "One more thing: Peggy was right - the German pilot did not want to harm that group. I know. I was that pilot!" Gosh, that took my breath away. Some people might see that blind date as merely a coincidence. A colossal coincidence, but such things do happen. You have your stories, I have mine.

Once I was reading a book called "Small Miracles." Each chapter contained what the subtitle called, Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life. I had finished reading four chapters, each with a story as amazing as Nick and Peggy. I thought to myself, I wonder if there's a coincidence in the book for me. I turned the page to Chapter 5, which began, "I was sitting in the waiting room of St. Joseph's Hospital in Lorain, Ohio...." Oh my gosh. I had just wondered if there might be a coincidence for me and the story takes place at St. Joseph's Hospital in Lorain - where my Mom had been head nurse. Coincidence?

One of my favorite authors is a Presbyterian pastor, Frederick Buechner, who describes finding a tie clip left at an airport bar, with the initials C.F.B. engraved on it. Buechner says, "... mathematically speaking, the odds of it having not just one or two, but all three of my initials on it, in the right order, must be astronomical, but I suppose it could be just a coincidence too.... Maybe it wasn't a fluke. Maybe it was a crazy peek behind the curtain, a dim little whisper of (God) from the wings. I had been expected. I was on schedule. I was taking the right journey at the right time. I was not alone."

Sometimes, I'm sure, coincidences are just coincidences, reflecting the random chances and choices of life. But with eyes of faith, and maybe with a bit of God's grace thrown in, we may end up agreeing with Buechner that coincidences just may be God tapping upon our shoulder, "Don't worry. I am with you. You are not alone." I mean, don't we wish that some of these amazing coincidences we experience in life are indeed, small miracles? Somebody has even coined a word: Godincidents! And blessed are those who see these "coincidences" as they might well be ... nothing less than comforting reminders that indeed, we are not alone.

Leprosy is a terrible disease ... and probably more so in the days of Jesus, when lepers were shunned from their families, and their homes, and their villages. The sheer loneliness of leprosy had to be hard on the heart. And these ten lepers of our text knew that their situation was hopeless ... there is no cure for leprosy. Not then. And as I understand it, not now. And so when they cried out to Jesus for mercy, they were not asking for healing, which was impossible. In reality they were asking for merely milk. "Hey, Jesus, got milk?" Of course, the milk for which they yearned was nothing less than the milk of human kindness. For a leper, even that was almost too much to hope for. And yet, the ten men who had cried out for mercy, received a miracle. And not a small miracle, for they were healed. For nine it was perhaps a colossal coincidences. And colossal coincidences do happen! But one of the ten had the vision, the insight, the worldview to say to himself, "In this vast and sometimes lonely universe, I am no longer alone. This is no coincidence. In my healing, I sense the hand of God." And surely this is why the lone leper takes a faith journey of gratitude and returns to the Healer and prostrates himself at the feet of Jesus. For in Jesus, he has sensed the hand of God!

Ten lepers, of course, were relieved of their leprosy. But just one, and a Samaritan to boot, just one had a healing that went beyond skin deep. And what leads me to this point of view is the punchline to the story, spoken by the Healer to the one who was truly healed, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." The Greek word, sosa, in addition to meaning well, could mean healed, saved, protected or, as the King James Version of 1611 translates it, whole: "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."

Personally, I think the term "well-rounded" could be used here, "Your faith has made you well-rounded." And a well-rounded person is one where heart, mind, and soul work together. From a faith perspective, a well-rounded person has a worldview which can identify the touch of God, which others might pass off as mere coincidence. This is the kind of worldview that the ex-leper from Samaria possessed. He was willing to bet his life on the fact his healing was not just a spontaneous coincidence, but that God had something to do with it. "He had been expected. He was on schedule. He was taking the right journey at the right time. He was not alone."

What a wonderful story from the pages of Scripture, and thus what a grand day to hand out Bibles to the third graders. Any day, of course, is a fine day for a great Bible giveaway! These boys and girls now have in their proud possession stories of miracles, both large and small. Stories of people and events that will shape their lives and give confidence to their futures. I really like the poster promoting National Bible Sunday later this month. The words on the poster are spelled out with carrots and broccoli and asparagus and other healthy vegetables: "Feast on the Bible's big meal," proclaims the poster, "to draw strength for today and tomorrow." Amazing. From a book, the Bible, Christians draw strength for today and tomorrow! What a coincidence! Or is it?