Several times, I had thought to write about signs people see, and how stupid the idea is that cosmic forces would attempt to communicate with humans through obscure symbols. Numerology, dreams/nightmares, psychics, prosperity gospel, crystals, zodiac signs, flat earth; it all seems like BS to me. One day during a vacation 2 months ago, I found myself in a conversation about aliens. The thought that aliens exist does not bother me. I get bothered by the conspiracy theories and the amount of energy put into things that really have no effect on us as a species. Why do people build a belief system around concepts that are so unstable and unknown?

Aliens living among us? Maybe, but that doesn’t change my life one bit. Even if I found out my neighbors were aliens, my view of the universe won’t change. I still need to make money, clean the house, keep up my personal relationships and brush my teeth. Not too long into this discussion was there a couple of lights off in the distance in the night sky. One of the alien enthusiasts shot up out of his chair, making all sorts of exclamations that it was a UFO, and began to explain why these lights were not natural to our world. It wasn’t too long after that we were able to easily disprove this as the color coordination of lights, and its speed and movements were similar of those of a normal plane (we googled it). The conviction of something so uncertain really gets to me. How can people say “God exists! I know it!” when there factually is no evidence present? By my understanding, faith is a requisite of most religions that believe in God, and thus, in this context, the statement “I know God exists” is contradictory to the underlying belief. And yet, the passion is so much more present for unknowable things over what has been proven to exist.

If the person of surety was requested to prove their statement, they would present either regurgitated material from other sources, or anecdotal stories. Many of the stories would probably involve the person praying to God for something to happen, and then some facsimile of the request happened. These personal signs are the evidence that hold up personal beliefs, and I want to make something very clear. I’m not trying to take away from the personal anecdotes. Personal experience is important, but let’s return to where I was at after the alien discussion.

The next day after the alien talk, I found myself impassioned. Finding time to talk to my wife, I laid out how absolutely idiotic it was for people to cling to ideas and beliefs that have NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING, and how much of a waste of time it was to ruminate on such nonsense!  Unfortunately, for my wife, she had to listen to my “wise” musings. Apparently, God (or whatever higher power at the time) was listening to me as well and decided to turn my argument up on its head.

I’ve been listening to Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules For Life, to give myself some inspiration and motivation to be a better me. The twelfth rule, pet a cat on the street if you encounter one, seemed a bit odd to me. I had listened to several lectures on the book as well, and this rule kept sticking out to me. He explained the petting of the cat was a way to keep your head above water in the midst of a tragedy because “…there’s nothing worse than a family fighting over a deathbed...” A person’s responsibility is to put themselves in a position to bear such tragedy as to not turn the tragedy into complete hell for themselves and for the people around them. Maybe planning the next month is too much to handle, then look toward the next week. If that is too much to handle, plan the next day, hour, or minute. Find things that make unbearable things bearable so you too will not become a burden and you can stand strong when others need it.

The morning after my discourse on why heavenly symbols and signs were dumb, I went for a 5-mile run. I would be doing an out and back meaning I would run 2.55 miles out and come back 2.45 miles. At the 2.5 mile mark, I was feeling good. I decided that going for 6 miles would be easy enough, and pushed myself another half mile out. The route I was running was on the outskirts of farm fields with tall, healthy trees surrounding a 2-lane asphalt road. As I rounded the end of the 3-mile mark and crossed the road to the opposite side to retrace my route back, a dog came forth from the trees. It was a small female dog, with unkempt white and brown fur and no collar or tag visible. The mutt seemed to have no owner. I stopped in my tracks, and the dog came up to me, tail wagging. It lowered its head and rolled onto its side with its belly exposed. The twelfth rule came ringing into my head, “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street”. The first section of this rule in the book was an apology to dog owners saying dogs are a perfect substitute for cats.

The dog looked nice enough, no foam from the mouth, no bearing of teeth, and her tail was nearly wagging off her body. I knelt down and gave the dog a good scratch. There’s nothing better in life than to get a dog’s leg shaking while scratching it. I can’t help but smile knowing I got its itch. This time was no exception. After a couple of minutes, I continued my run, but the dog followed me… for a mile and a half. I eventually stopped and noticed it was carrying a dog bone with it. I took the bone and threw it thinking maybe it would play fetch, but it took my action as a sign that I wanted it to leave, and I didn’t see it again after throwing its bone.

I didn’t know what to think of this meeting. I decided to pet a dog on the street I encountered, so what? Later that same day, I talked to my father in-law. Apparently, his mother had broken her ankle, and she was in a bad way. This was nothing new as within the past decade grandma had been in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Grandma would always bounce back. I had this weird feeling, and the thought crossed my mind, “There’s nothing worse than a family fighting over a deathbed…” and “…to not turn tragedy into complete hell…” A feeling of realization and fear washed over me simultaneously. Was that dog a sign of things to come?

Here I am, a man who does not believe in signs and symbols. The irony was not lost on me. Less than a month later, my wife and I came to hear that grandma is not doing well. Apparently, she had to be taken off some of her medication that was assisting her fight off stage 4 cancer, and this had thrust her into its clutches further. Grandma would not bounce back this time. By coincidence, this news came to us the day we were going to leave on vacation. The plan was to visit grandma before we all left on our next adventure. The purpose of this visit went unsaid, but it was understood as a way for the family to say goodbye. Grandma was not present during our visit. Only survival mechanisms persisted as she struggled with every gasp. Not 10 minutes after leaving her room, she passed away. She had held on just long enough for all of us to say goodbye, and her son to tell her she can finally go. Was the dog a way to tell me that I was to be a force to prevent this tragedy to be plunged into hell?

I still don’t believe in signs and symbols the way some do; however, I do think signs play an important part for us as a species. Along human development, meaning integrated itself into our perception to make sense of the environment. Whatever signs and symbols may occur I believe is us merely searching and injecting meaning into the world around us. I don’t know if my meeting with the dog was a sign sent from another being. I’m inclined to believe not. Our fortuitous meeting would have meant nothing if I didn’t listen to Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules For Life. I would venture a guess and say if I didn’t encounter the dog, I would have seen and petted a cat (there are many where I live) that would have sparked the same thoughts and feelings. I believe the signs we interpret as the universe telling us something meaningful is truly our minds trying to make sense out of chaos and tell us what we individually find important in life. Make no mistake, I’m not downgrading their significance. These symbols are meaningful even though we may not truly understand them. If nothing more, we come to understand a small part of ourselves through them, and we should not take them for granted. Irrespective of your beliefs, look for these signs. As one of my cousins said, “They’re all around. You just have to be willing to see them.”