How much control do you think you have over fate, destiny, or free will? I met my husband on a tennis court. I belonged to a tennis group and went to the courts by myself after work to practice my serve and was lucky—fate?—enough that five little boys were eager to chase my tennis balls until they were called for dinner. Cliff, my future husband, was already there practicing his serves against a wall. Without thinking about the differences between fate or destiny, which I use both interchangeably, I looked them up when I learned fate or free will was this week’s theme and . . . oh yes there is a difference. Fate is defined as inevitable, based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe. Destiny is used with regard to the finality of events or as a natural flow of events, like my marriage to the handsome tennis player. Free will is an illusion. Yes, we have freedom of thought and action. We all like to believe we are free to do what we want, while in reality I seldom fall far from who I am—my character, family obligations and morals.
Here I go quoting Shakespeare again but he clearly identifies the difference between free will and fate. He believed each man was the master of his life—not stars, not sorcerers, not oracles, but he also believed that certain forces—environmental, social, religious, emotional, and psychological—could weaken a person’s ability to make a rational decision. To quote from Shakespeare:
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
(Julius Caesar, 1.2.146)
In addition, Hamlet also stated,
Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown;
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own.
(Hamlet, 3.2.208)
Yes, we may think we have control over our fate, destiny and free will, but we cannot always control their end results.
I would never try to control fate, Carole. I couldn't even control a tennis ball.
Posted by: Michael A. Black | September 06, 2017 at 05:03 PM