My Sunday Thought for July 19, 2015: Freedom of Choice

Spock: "You have to shoot. If you are logical, you have to shoot."

Valeris: "I do not want to."

Spock: "What you want is irrelevant. What you've chosen is at hand."

"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991)

Yes, it's just a movie script, a screenplay, and yet most of us live out this scenario constantly in our lives.  We made a bad choice, hoping to get what we want, and what we want has become irrelevant as what we have chosen is at hand, and is usually about to go off in our confused face.

Parents always hope for their children that they might be spared the mistakes of their own lives, not realizing that these very mistakes are what make us who we are.  Oft times a mistake can be turned around to present a silver lining that was well worth whatever grief had to be endured to achieve it.

"I wouldn't change a thing about what I've done in the past because what may have been bad choices have led me to this moment."

-- Minnie Driver, actress

I have had people ask me, what difference choices make if life is life for each of us is preordained, if our destiny is set.  There are also those who believe life is a crap shoot, a roll of the dice, a game of chance.  Two views that are different, yet similar for, if life is a gamble then the outcome, good or bad, was destined because you made a choice to play the game.  One believe whether you play the game or not, what will be will be.  The other believes their destiny rides on the back of Lady Luck.  Who do you think is right?  Both?  Neither?  Or, does it really matter?  What does all of this have to say about a person's ultimate fate?  Ah!  One's fate is not the same thing as one's destiny.  

Both groups rely on one common aspect in their particular thought - choice.  The nineteenth century American lawyer, William Jennings Bryan, covered both groups when he stated, "Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved."  In our society of haves and have-nots, the have-nots want what the haves have and the government works hard to level a playing field that will never be level.  It's not that it can't be leveled; it won't be leveled, because the have-nots don't have a clue.  They are where they are as a matter of choice, and they will remain there until they choose to be something more.  It is a choice the government, nor any other person, can make for them.  It is a matter of pride, integrity, and hard work.

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”

-- Aristotle (385-322 BC), Greek philosopher

Now, I just know this last statement has probably pissed off the perpetually offended amongst us.  The bright side is that no matter what I said they would have been offended.  This is the point of being perpetually offended.  The fact they are annoyed at me is a good thing.  I always liked the Shakespeare quote from Hamlet, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks," an exercise in irony as the constant proclamation of innocence can achieve the opposite belief.  So it is with most of the perpetually offended.  They end up framing themselves as the weak and ineffective whiners in an otherwise robust society.  Yet, even in this feeling of offense, there is a choice.  You can be offended, or let the supposed offense roll off a set of broad, strong shoulders capable of seeing a broader picture, like life.  This is a group that really needs to get one.  But, that, too, is a choice.

"To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

-- David A. Bednar, clergyman

You can choose to be perpetually offended and exert all of your energy being a miserable human being, or you can choose to be happy and let the bullshit in life roll off your back.  It takes a lot more effort to live a life of constant offense, than to smile and understand that someone else's opinion is a matter of their choice, not yours.  Maybe it's time to, simply, get over yourself; live and let live.  Our destiny is our own.

A person's destiny lies somewhere up ahead, but their ultimate fate is in the hands of God.  As the Brazilian novelist, Paulo Coelho, states it, "I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed."

So, our choices determine our destiny, but not our fate?  How can that be?  Let's look at the definitions as gleaned from differencebetween.net:

Fate - the preordained course of your life that will occur because of or in spite of your actions. 

Destiny - a set of predetermined events within your life that you take an active course in shaping.

So, it would seem Paulo has it right, or researches at differencebetween.net, like me.

Freedom of choice - it something we are born with, inherent in our genetic makeup.  It is not something we can escape because, in doing so, you have made a choice.  Everything we do in life is a choice, and everything that happens to us is because of those choices we make.  We can attempt to shift the blame for our woes onto others, but if we honestly follow the path back to the beginning, we will find the we were the victims of our own short sightedness, ignorance, greed, selfishness, etc.  Stealing a movie quote, sometimes, just because we can do a thing, doesn't mean we must do that thing.  It is our choice.

“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”

-- John Steinbeck (1902-1968), author, "East of Eden"

 Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."