Do you believe the universe tries to tell us things

Life, the u overseas throws all sorts at you.
you will find signs where you look for them.
your gut is the best compass.
if you deep down want to go home everything will always feel against you.
if you truly want to stay you’ll stick it out no matter what.
I practise tarot - the universe draws our attention to what’s inside by providing external test of faith

No.

By universe I take it you mean interventionist god?

'Things happen for a reason' has two meanings. One as above - with reason as purpose - that you have a supernatural guardian angel shaping your path. The other - reason as explanatory cause - is that human actions have causes and that if you look backwards and sideways you can sometimes work out what the reasons were that a particular thing happened.

Coincidences happen because it would be far stranger and harder to explain if they did not. We give them disproportionate attention, so remember them far more easily than all the unconnected everyday happenstances.

Stories are told by the survivors. The people who caught the plane that crashed etc are not around to talk about the subtle or amazing chain of events (in retrospect) that led to them being on that plane rather than another one. We can only hear those stories from the set of travellers who remain alive.

You can always find an explanation retroactively, for anything.

Sometime in the past, whether 500 years ago or 10,000 years ago several of my ancestors had abominable things happen to them.

3000 years ago a man and woman had a child. The man went hunting and got killed by a lion. The woman eventually got together with another man and produced the line that lead to me.

So the purpose of the lion was for me to be alive. Without that lion the original couple would have engendered another line and I wouldn't be here posting on MN.

Another way to put this, you always make up any story, for anything bad happening because it will benefit some beings some time in the far distant future.

How do you know they would have been equally amazing? They could have been the next Ted Bundy. I’ve experienced a lot of loss and pain but I wouldn’t change it for the world as it all led to my DD who is amazing, I would not want another equally amazing child, just her.

Whereas theism is the epitome of logic, of course.

'Your gut' isn't 'the universe'.
What you're essentially saying is to take your emotions into as much consideration as possible when making a decision.

I think Buddhism is an interesting religion and is something to learn from. I don’t believe in karma however as that is a judgment on a person, which I don’t consider to be true.

It sounds as if you want to go home op. That’s not a failure and you will have learned a lot from the experience.

Ya?

Yes. Listen to it. We did, left London and the tiny flats we rented. Best decision ever! Do what your gut tells you to do.

The same could be said of religion and/or those who think a god speaks to them.

I think that when you are looking for a way out of something (ie potentially a move you now know was the wrong decision for you), it is much easier to write it off as the universe trying to tell you something. But when it actually comes down to it, when you have horrible news or the closest person to you dies young, you realise there’s no such thing as the universe giving you answers, it’s just cold and bitter unluck.
I do believe the reason you are asking this Op is because you want someone to tell you that it’s okay to take a wrong turn and change your mind and go back again. I had to do that myself once (moved abroad back home to native country and realised native country wasn’t what I thought it would be). No harm in packing up and coming back, do what your gut tells you.

You sound very certain of something that is impossible to prove.
I'll come right back at ya and say that atheism is a logical fallacy.

No, it's utter bollocks.

And the "everything happens for a reason" nonsense is all very well when you're thinking about how you met your partner through a job you nearly didn't take, but a pretty awful sentiment if you experience something like a child dying or developing a severe illness.

I have no idea what people mean by this. The universe is not sentient - it can't tell you anything. It doesn't care about anyone or anything.
Perhaps you mean an invisible, benevolent being who is in control of everything and cares about his creation. I.e. God... That makes more sense to me.

Lots of gods have been written about - I was wondering which of these fictional characters pp was referring to.

No gods exist in any way, shape or form

What on earth are you talking about?
How can thinking the universe ir trying to tell you something is privilege??????
That is the stupidest thing I have read this year
As mentioned yesterday, privilege is another word that has completely lost it's meaning due to inappropriate use

Which god?

I don’t believe in fate or a predetermined path. I’ve just had an experience that would have been a whole lot easier if I had. I quit my local but toxic job and did some agency work, found a place that wanted to keep me on a permanently but just had to get through an interview. For various reasons I didn’t get the job and was gutted. In the back of my mind I was aware that a new site was being developed even closer to home that would have a role in future. 2 weeks after being rejected that job came up and I’ve now got the job. After my initial rejection I started to look for everything wrong with that place and now I’m so incredibly glad I won’t be in that role in future. I believe that it was just good timing and good decisions that got me the new job and I guess the hirer could see that I wouldn’t have been happy long term in the agency role.

So many people have said “fate” when I’ve said about it or “what’s for you won’t pass” and I could have saved myself a hell of a lot of stress (and 6 other interviews) if I’d known where I would have ended up.

I've often said there are really strange coincidences.i was repeated ly in the same place as my husband at the same time throughout our entire lives despite not living particularly close or being that closer in age or having any overlapping factors. It's a if we kept being put in each other's way. The crossovers are bizarre.
My cousin misses for a host of different banal reasons 3 different planes all of which were involved in accidents in quick succession many years ago, which considering the scarcity of air accidents on itself is remarkable. He then missed a fight which eh l would have had him at home in the middle of a an earthquake which completely devastated everything where he lived and killed many people.

So strange coincidinces probably, we only know about them because we have found out about the potential outcomes/ results. He knows what the results of catching his flights or arriving in time would have been, I know how I was always near my husband. Most of the time we are just unaware.
Is it a massage. I don't know. I doubt it, but it's fun to speculate!
The first people we speak to halfway around the world in holiday live a mile away from us and her brother is a teacher a Dds school. Strange world!!

At what level do you teach theology? I’ve met Oxbridge theologians and they didn’t dismiss people’s faith so rudely.

I think life is a struggle for a lot of people, and when you think you have one thing sorted, another issue / worry pops up to take your attention…

Go into any MN thread related to criminal justice and sentencing, and sure as eggs is eggs, especially where and when it involves children, you'll find umpteen posters shouting and bawling about people being "evil", "born evil" and so on, yet nobody can provide any explanation whatsoever for this supposed malignant "power" that can seemingly compel people to behave in undesirable ways, and is apparently not just cause, but motive as well.

Drives me to distraction the incoherence of it.

I accept the perception that certain acts can fairly be described as "evil", but to suggest it exists as an independent force of nature is nonsense. I don't know why some people can't just accept that some other people chose do heinous things for no particular reason, or else they do them because of some underlying illness or dysfunction, but no, it's apparently down to this intangible, vague, inscrutable force known as "evil".

No, because I recognise I am not the main character in a film.

In a word, no. You make choices based on a combination of situation and possibilities. I see no point in trying to make " the Universe" responsible for those choices.