The illusion of choice…

September 2, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Sitting in the driver’s seat of our lives we often assume that some things may happen, no matter what. Meanwhile, the concept of free will states that life happens to us at our discretion, the random choices we make are uninfluenced by anything called destiny or karma. Let’s face it, life is a combination of fate, which may be present in our lives but, inevitably, we need to utilize our own free will in order to fulfill our potential.

A bit of theological waxing here as I share my view that fate rules out free will which can be called fatalism; I feel that it is definitely possible to believe in fate without being a fatalist. There are truths about all of the future actions one performs but, in doing so, there is free will. But, many find fatalism quite plausible. One one hand, predestination is demonstrative of an external determination of an action from a rational human being. Fatalisam, well, that is from an irrational one.

Some believe that lives and likewise choices are predetermined, others feel that humans are responsible for their own actions. Enter predestination where many of us have been taught that it has been written by God. What is to happen in the future determines if that path will take us to heaven or hell. Bring on that free will and we choose to do as we desire, even as God looks down, knowing the past, present and future all at once. He already knows what we will do in the future but this does not mean that He controls it all. Not always.

Personally, I believe in free will but not completely in predestination in a similar sense. Years ago, I made a decision to avoid a situation which saved my then future husband from serious injury or death. As much as I still feel that choice was mine, I’ve been taught to believe that God already knew back then, that choice was part of His plan and He continues to know the choices we will make. We may feel the choice is ours but His knowledge dictates the game plan ahead to get the predetermined end result in motion, even if we won’t play along.

Ah yes, those choices, simple enough but they come with certain consequences. Those who choose free will, and follow His commandments, are predestined to receive salvation. Those who choose not to follow are predestined to the “lake of fire”.

Follow or not, we are all just puppets on His string.

From the Writer’s Workshop…Do you believe in destiny, or do you believe that life’s outcome is strictly the result of choice and circumstance? What experiences or evidence has led you to your position on fate versus free will?
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Flower Girl

August 19, 2024 by 12 Comments

She was an only child, afraid of her parents and the world outside.  Secrets stayed hidden behind her smile.

     As an adult, she fears little.  Except the passing of time.  And forgetting.

She was once awkward and clumsy.  Always watching normal life from the sidelines.

    Her steps are now quick and with direction.  At times,  it’s as if she’s still running away. 

She was afraid to speak back then because no one listened.

    Now, she talks with her fingers, sharing words with anyone who reads her keyboard conversation. 

She didn’t realize her strengths for years. Parental control those many years ago dictated the fact that children weren’t allowed to be powerful.

     Today, she launches an offensive at any injustice, having learned to stand up for herself…and others.

She was once a Flower Girl with a forced smile that peeked over a tiny bouquet of pink roses and white carnations.

      When she holds flowers now, each bloom looks up at her as if to smile and remind her of just how far she has come.

From the Writer’s Workshop:  Write about one, or both, of your parents.

Rummaging through some photographs that my late mother managed not to destroy, or discard, I came across one taken when I was about five years old. Friends of my parents married and I was a small part of the event, serving as a Flower Girl in their wedding. Looking at that photo, I recalled exactly what my life was like back then. 

I still have the little pink satin gown, in perfect condition, hanging in a closet. 

Memories linger in the delicate fabric.

 

 

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Some Godly thoughts…

July 24, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Having been raised a strict Roman Catholic many years ago, I now find myself at one of those religious crossroads in an effort to define what, how and who I believe in, spiritually, and share some Godly thoughts.


To my right, there is Deism, a somewhat vague term for an epistemological belief which depends solely on reasoning the acceptance of a certain body of religious knowledge. This is either inborn in most people or acquired along with rejections of religious knowledge when obtained through revelations or teachings of any church.


My personal disagreement here is the Deist belief that three persons in one true God is irrational while focusing on the almighty’s non-intervention in our world, even though the very existence of God is acknowledged to a point but the creator is indifferent to the world.


On my left is Theism, the view that all limited or finite things are dependent in some way on one supreme or ultimate reality of which one may speak in personal terms. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this reality is often called God along with the belief that this God is actively engaged with the universe in some way and guides His creation. There is a shared belief from both sides here that affirms God’s intelligence and a real moral order in the world.

Although Deism does closely resemble Theism, the Deist God is not involved in the world in the same personal way as the Theist God who allows the world to continue in its own way, subject to a final, almost remote control. This outlook simplifies some problems with God off in the shadows or beyond even as people continue to centre their lives around Him. A Deist then proceeds as if there were no God, or just an absent one. This approach is especially true of humans’ understanding of the world and why Deism did appeal to so many in historical religious references where time was allowed for God but followers had no need of that hypothesis in their normal account of things. Religion was significant only in a manner which involved little else in the world or human life.


On the other hand, Theists, such as myself, question this view and seek in various ways to bring humanity’s relation to God into closer involvement with the way they understand themselves and the world around them.

From the Writer’s Workshop…Write a post in exactly 13 sentences.

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