My first love’s cousin once told me that she (the former) should have married me.  I have thought about this for decades.  I don’t really know how I feel about that but as one of my captains used to tell me when he didn’t want to admit I was right – it wasn’t wrong.  Something like that.

This one is about choices, consequences, and destinies.  Ours, others, and how they intersect.

Someone asked me how I could trust God when some of the decisions I felt Him guide, nudge, lead, or even tell me to follow or do had negative consequences.  The answer for me was relatively simple – there were good consequences as well.  I wrote a poem about this – you don’t pick and choose what you like about how things play out – take it all or none at all.

There’s an ancient Chinese fable that illustrates the fluidity of events.  I don’t fully recall all the details but a section has a horse appearing as a gift to someone and his friend goes – what good luck.  The man replies – we’ll see.  Shortly thereafter, the man’s son falls off the horse and breaks his leg.  Now the friend goes – what bad luck, to which the reply is the same – we’ll see.  Turns out that the injury saves the son from being conscripted to fight in a war.  You just never know.

Our decisions and those of others collide.  How it all fits together is a mystery and probably best left to God to sort it all out.  I think that’s the beauty of destiny.  It follows us and nothing can stop it.  You know I’d have to insert a Godfather reference here – Vito is humbly working as a grocery store clerk when he gets unjustly let go in order for the nephew of the local crime lord could take his job.  Long story short, a sequence of events play out involving seemingly random events and conscious decisions to launch Vito into his destiny as the Don.  

And this is true of many people – including those in the Bible.  The pit, desert, prison, cross –  all lead to a great purpose or destiny.  I told my judge friend that it’s the storm that takes you somewhere (thanks Joel Osteen).  It’s actually better than the lulls in many ways when nothing seems to be happening (actually a lot happens here too).

I keep asking whether we can choose our destines or whether they choose us.  It’s probably a bit of both.  I think we all know to some extent.  Winston Churchill said he may have been a worm but he was a glow worm.  He wasn’t wrong.  The man responsible (in part) for one of the greatest disasters in military history (Gallipoli) is also the man who resisted Adolf Hitler.

I told my kids stories about my first love.  They were amused.  As they learn more about their dad, they start to realize where all their naughtiness comes from – ability to swear as well (Daughter is such a natural, I can’t help but smile).

How all the above fits together, it still comes down to trust in something – God or the universe.  But if you listen very hard, the truth will come to you at last.

We’ll see.