As the front image on the wikipedia-page already indicates, a total solar eclipse is not always total.
Earth's orbit is slightly elliptic, and so is the Moons orbit around the Earth.
Now take the Moon's slight orbital inclination into account and far from all total eclipses are really total.
Unlike stated usually.
In fact wiki states "On average, the Moon appears to be slightly smaller than the Sun as seen from the Earth, so the majority (about 60%) of central eclipses are annular."
On a sidenote: It's important to understand that if the inclination and eccentricity of the orbit would be zero, then we'd have a perfect total solar eclipse on earth every month!
But yeah you can look it up, that this is not the case. There are, after all, not every month news reports from ppl staring into the sun, are there ;)
On other note, we know that the Moon is increasing its distance to earth. This happens because Orbital angular momentum is converted into internal heat for both bodies through tidal forces.
This situation will evolve over time, so yes, it's a coincidence.
And no, I'm not aware of the Moon's distance having any strong implications for life.
Tell me, if this is not clarified enough from the above.
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