Nothing is a coincidence

(Canada Chronicles continued ...)
One day last week when I was in Montreal I was walking with my cousin. We passed a shop displaying some brightly coloured images on fridge magnets and coasters for $1 each. I was drawn to a bright image of Cupid. My cousin was drawn to the image featured above. We made our purchases. As soon as she paid for the angel, she turned and gave it to me.

Maybe because I was in a French speaking place, the name Celestine popped into my head as I looked at the image of the angel. I then remembered the 'Celestine Prophecy' and the fact that there is no such thing as 'a coincidence'. Before we continued along our way, I said to Celestine (in French): "Show us signs along our path that lead us to the answers we need right now to advance our lives in accordance with our happiness."

Along the way, we passed many signs that had the word "Angel" in them ... whether on advertising, the names of buildings or even embedded within names of streets (e.g. Blvd Langelier). 'Coincidence'? Were we looking for it? Or was there really some kind of angelic presence?

We were on our way to look for a labyrinth in a park about 2 hours away on foot. As we walked, we were talking of a few things ... one of which was 'fear'. I was telling her that everyone feels fear at some point and that we need to push past it to get to the next level and where we want to be. At that moment I had looked at Celestine again and the cross she was carrying reminded me of an image I had seen once of my hero since childhood - Joan of Arc. How relevant. I started to tell my cousin about Joan and two of her quotes which I love:

(i) I am not afraid, I was born to do this
(ii) Act and God will act

Just a few seconds later, I looked up as we were about to cross a street... and right before us was a street sign: Blvd Jeanne d'Arc! (Joan of Arc Boulevard)

We were blown away. Coincidence or confirmation? Long story, but in that moment I confirmed the decision to extend my stay here an extra month.
Yesterday I was walking through town with a friend and saw this stick (above image) on the ground. It's the second one I've found since being here. It's in the shape of a divining rod. I see these "Y" shaped sticks as a sign that I'm being assisted in finding something important to me.

As my friend and I walked, I was telling her (relevant to our conversation) about a time I was in a meeting (in TT) and one of my peers had run out of the room, traumatised by a phonecall that a very dear friend of hers had been killed that morning in a car accident. After a while of several of us comforting her, I offered to take her home and stay with her until her sister came to keep her company. On the drive to her apartment, I didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who has emitted such gutteral cries of grief and is still reeling in shock? The only thing that came to me was to ask her what were the things that she loved most about him ... what were some of her favourite memories of their times together ... what kind of person was he?

This kept her talking about things that she found pleasant, even though sad (given the circumstances). At one point, just before reaching her apartment, I saw a car heading toward us. It had her deceased friend's name (NICHOLAS) emblazoned across its windscreen in red with a huge red heart next to it.

"Look! He's hearing you talk about him and he's sending to say he loves you!" I exclaimed.

Coincidence? Confirmation? Consolation?

So ... I was telling my friend this story as we walked yesterday in Toronto with my divining rod ... and lo and behold, just as I finished telling it to her, we stopped to cross a street, I looked up ... and we both gasped as my finger pointed to the name of the street:

St. Nicholas St.

Coincidence? It gave us the confirmation that we are on the right path and are being guided.