# 2 circle of signs

Have you ever experienced something so strange it could only be ‘a sign’?

I remember sitting in a packed auditorium, waiting for the professor to open the academic year. A famous ‘rational’ philosopher took the stage, ready to bring us to our senses. “There is no such thing as signs, only chance!” he debated. “But it’s easy to believe these interventions are something orchestrated. And it’s often the smartest people who fall for these stupidities.”

My luck. Another thing I had to give up in order to teach non-confessional ethics, to be a “rational being,” as sociologist Weber wrote, where scientific laws replace magic.

I wonder what we’ve lost with it?

Sometimes, small things happen, and they fill me with awe. When I wrote my first circle, I talked about Jonah and the whale. Yesterday, as I waited outside an antique bookstore, I was mesmerized. There, in the shop window, a copy of that very book presented itself. I laughed.

Modern life demands wonder. With the horrors penetrating the news daily, we might benefit from something we can’t explain. As Einstein wrote: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”

For my second circle:

• Draw a circle and name it “Circle of Signs.”
• Ponder the question: “What sign have you ever received that filled you with wonder?”
• Write down your sign.