I have to admit it. Sometimes I want to believe in fate. There is something about fate that feels good, that feels right. To think that some wonderful events were meant to be. To believe that there are people that were meant to come into your life.
Believing in fate helps you go through difficult moments. It gives you faith that there is some unseen force working in your favor, that wants the best for you, and that will make a way somehow so that you could have your happy ending.
What a comfort to know that you are being taken care of and that things are under control even when they don’t seem to be. Ah, there is still hope even when you could no longer see how things could still be right. There could yet be a happy future despite the darkness that you see today.
Such is fate. Positive fate. Who wouldn’t want a happy ending? Who wouldn’t dream of a life filled with meaning, whose every crisis was woven to bring you greater joy?
But what if your fate is not something that leads you to a happily-ever-after? What if sorrow and tragedy await you in the end?
When I think about that, free will seems to be a more comforting thought. Being given the choice to do as I desire. To turn my life around and not wait for anyone else to take charge of things.
I will decide. I will pursue. I’d dream my dreams and work hard until they become a reality.
Why should I wait for someone else to make things happen for me?
Free will should have won it all. Free will should have ended my search for answers.
But free will is also tiring. Free will can be unforgiving. When you think that everything depends upon your powers and your hard work.
Because the truth is that I could never do everything. And as much as I’d like to, I can’t always make things happen the way I’d want them to.
There’d be times I’d fall. Times when I get so tired I’d wish there was someone who could tell me, “It’s okay. Things can still turn out better in the end. Not everything depends upon your efforts alone.”
But then again, if I start to believe in that, I’d merely go back to wanting to believe in fate.
Could it be that there is something beyond these choices I think I’m making? Is it possible that in some mysterious way, both fate and free will could accomplish what is best for us?
Somehow I think that it is. Just like joy can sometimes mingle secretly with sorrow. Just like the rain can sometimes greet the sun. In a hidden way, there is a force that reconciles the two, allowing us to live in freedom while giving us peace that all things can still be well. In a magnificent mingling of realities, there is a force that abides and sets us free. There is a power that holds this universe together and weaves both free will and fate into a tapestry of beauty, wisdom and of truth.
Check Jocelyn's books:
"Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief", "Mend My Broken Heart", "Questions to God", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", and more - click here.
(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)