When is something a coincidence and when is it something God wants you to really pay attention to? One could argue, of course, that there’s no such thing as coincidences. Maybe a better way of saying it is that God really wants you to pay attention all the time, but there are times, I think, when we’re particularly nudged to stop and take notice.

The photo is of me in Prague standing next to a statue of Jan Hus in either 1999 or 2000. I think it’s 2000. I was pastor of Riverside United Methodist Church (UMC) and we were looking at making closer connections to the UMC in the Czech Republic, particularly since that part of Chicagoland once had (and still has vestiges of) a strong Czech immigrant population. That led me to trek to Prague and Plzen, where I met some wonderful people and got the opportunity to preach in a couple UMCs in Plzen.

Out of nowhere, I got an email a couple days ago from one of the coordinators of that trip and he is still working at expanding the UMC in eastern Europe and, among other things, they’re starting an English-speaking UMC in Prague. In addition, over the last couple of years, I’ve made some connections in Germany with the Aachen archdiocese of the Catholic church and they’ve invited me to come to a couple conferences in October and speak about Urban Village and the ways we’ve been reaching young adults.

Should I be paying attention to central-eastern Europe for some reason? Is all this coincidence or is God wanting me to take notice? I’m going to keep exploring this and see where it leads. Rather than expect quick, final answers, I usually find that asking small questions tends to lead to (a) more questions or (b) more definitive answers.