Fate and Faith

My parents were big believers in fate, they always told me, the big g had a plan for me, and that eventually, no matter what I did, I would come around to what he had planned for me.

There have been decisions in my life. Decisions that I have solely taken, on my own accord. Decisions that will define the way my life will end up. Most likely, a lonely soul, on a death bed, by myself, as my life flashes by me, yearning for another chance, not knowing the uncertainty that follows, I don’t want to go away, and I know now, as I knew ten years ago that I will go away. That is fate, everything else, is a decision, either favorable or not so favorable, either one defines a path, neither one right or wrong!

I was born into a Muslim family. My parents were staunch practicing Muslims. My mother still is completely a believer. She thinks that the big g is watching over us all. And so, from my earliest recollections, if you wanted a toy, you asked the big g, and the big g sometimes gave it to you, and at times didn’t , which meant he had a better plan for you. I can tell you one thing for sure, even at age ten that sounded like bull crap to me. And at age 37 it sounds a bit like, well, it sounds like bull crap. People around me, starting from my parents believed in this shit. And if you have been a ten year old, and I know you have been one, what your parents say is pretty much biblical…pun intended. So their word, is sort of cast in stone. Biblical! Denying it means eating spinach dinners, accepting it, of course, gets you deep fried chicken. So I accepted it. I, and everyone else on god’s earth, for their own personal and socio-economic reasons.

For the sake of clarity, it was not until I turned 30 that I realized that there was no such thing as god, and the books were fake, and everything that I was ever told was a lie. That did include most of the stories of the founding of our nation. How the forefathers sacrificed their lives for the cause. At 30, I wondered why these people still believe in this stuff. Do they not know, what is not good for the goose, can absolutely not be good for the gander! My forefathers would not sacrifice a single penny of their own, if they did not foresee a dime or a dollar coming out of the investment. Its human nature, and if you deviate from it, you will hurt yourself. That is the course of nature, the only real supernatural force that exists. The only voice you want to listen to, is the one in your heart, and Jesus and Mohammed have not a clue what that voice says. The aboriginal people found around the world, including Africa, all had morals, higher than the clergy that enslaved them.

So faith then is, either believing in an imaginary being, who is mightier that all, but serves no purpose other than to kill a curiosity. If you cannot live with the confession that you don’t know what created the universe, that you must succumb to believe in the being that created the universe in seven days, working on Sundays means death, and a woman needs to cover her face lest she wants to be stoned to death. Or faith is listening to your heart and knowing what is right for you, those around you include flora and fauna. Sounds a wee bit more intelligent that the Bible and Quran, doesn’t it, probably because, it is. I might perhaps make a better prophet…

Fate on the other hand is the path that your life takes, based on the decisions that you take based partly upon your own conscience and part on your faith. The question that one must ask is, are you going to live your life for a hereafter? One that in probability does not exist! Or are you going to live your life for the benefit of universe? The earth that you walk upon, the people you live amongst, the flowers you smell upon, and the fruits you feed upon. If there is a big g, and he has a problem with someone who exists solely to benefit the universe that she exists in, well that big g can go fuck themselves…that’s HIS fate!