When is something a ‘signal grace’ and when is it just an odd occurrence?

“A ‘signal grace’ is a free gift from God (grace) that is extraordinary in nature and evident in some manner (signal). It may be a visible sign or deep interior feeling that a prayer has been answered or a direction you’ve been seeking has been given. Another name for signal grace is “God-incidence,” a play on “coincidence” as with God there are none, because God actually works in that mysterious intersection where seemingly unrelated events in space and time meet up.” I wrote that in this post on St. Rita of Cascia.

There are times when we may confuse some random coincidence with ‘a free gift from God (grace) that is extraordinary in nature and evident in some manner.’

I suppose then the following is not a signal grace since I wasn’t hit with any extraordinary feeling like in the St. Rita post. 

At Mass this evening I saw a young lady get up for Holy Communion. Her hair was dyed all sorts of colors, like a rainbow. Why would that be a signal grace? She immediately reminded me of a character who appears in one unpublished short story I’ve written, and in a number of unfinished drafts. Her hair is tie-dyed many colors, like the lady in church. I connected this to possibly being a signal grace because once again, I am going through a bad period in my life wracked with self-doubt and esteem issues (I’ll be out of a job at the end of the month. Yes, in the middle of the holidays. My boss is a…. Oh, never mind.) I figured the appearance in real life (at Mass, no less) of a woman who bears a striking similarity to a fictional character I’ve created is some sort of gentle reminder from God that ‘all will be OK’ and I’ll get through this. Why He would pick a real-life rendition of one of my fictional characters is a mystery, but He has His reasons. Possibly because when I am working on my fiction, that is the only time when I feel ‘all right.’ 

Then again, I suppose that it could have been a signal grace, just of the low-wattage variety as there may be concerns surrounding an extraordinary feeling involving my spotting another woman! 

The fact that I am fond of this character (yes, writers can be fond of the fictional characters they create) and she’s appearing in a few stories of mine and I’ve populated her backstory with some autobiographical events in my life, may in God’s eyes indicate that she’d be ‘extraordinary’ enough to serve as a signal grace. 

Hmmm. I am going to have to think about this.

Incidentally, the character in question’s name is “Russia.” Nothing whatsoever to do with current events; I conceived the character in 2014 and she’s been moving about my subconscious ever since. In her backstory, she was named ‘Russia’ by Ginger, her mother. You see, Ginger got pregnant in 1968 by some guy and she was returning home to get an illegal abortion. She was in a Greyhound Bus Depot in St. Louis and was waiting for her bus for the trip home. While waiting, she spotted a discarded book on Fatima on the seat next to her. Now, Ginger was irreligious and a Communist. You’d think I’d have said ‘atheist,’ but that would be too complicated for Ginger. She just had no opinion on God’s existence and any atheism was a disbelief of convenience intended to satisfy her Marxist friends. She was a Communist simply because guys with fists upraised in righteous anger were sexy to her and their rhetoric was fascinating, when she grasped it. The funny thing is, the guy who knocked her up wasn’t a Communist. On the borderlands, but not on the inside. Another funny thing about him is that while he obviously is an antagonist in the story, (appearing only in a flashback) he’s a protagonist in many later unfinished drafts of stories. Anyway, getting this odd post back on track, while perusing the book on Fatima, she was amused that the Fatima seers mistook ‘Russia’ as a name for a woman. They were so ignorant that they never heard of the country. Later, she decides to name the unborn child ‘Russia’ as a sort of concession to her new-found faith (the whole experience gets her started on converting to Catholicism) and an odd tribute to her Marxist past. (In case this story ever does get published, I didn’t spoil the ending; I think it is obvious to anyone reading the story that she’ll decide against having the abortion. The fun of the story is the path she took to get there.)

I submitted the story to the one Catholic outlet that I know exists for fiction.  They rejected it. I didn’t bother submitting it elsewhere; it’s too Catholic for any other fiction publisher. It may get self-published in some manner.

I’m currently taking forever in writing a novel in which Russia appears. She’s now 26 (the novel is set in 1995). She had dropped out of high school at 16 and has mostly lived an itinerant life; dwelling with her Mom’s ex-hippy friends or renting rooms in houses and doing odd jobs. She appears in my story on the run from a disastrous family situation (Ginger is dying and Russia’s bitchy older sister is making her life a living hell over things.) She winds up staying in the eccentric little beach town getting a job as a folk singer in a lakefront dive and shortly thereafter an intriguing job in a thrift shop. It gets complicated after that. 

Russia, her mother Ginger, the guy who impregnated Ginger, other characters I haven’t mentioned and the places they live are all a part of a series of novels and shorter works attempting to work out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. Each story has something to do with one or more of them. I really need to dedicate more time to these. 

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)