The questions, once again, will come at a later time this coming week.
"Our world is a world of free will and free choice, and at the same time, paradoxically, it is a world that operates according to Hashem's plan. You see that paradox at work all the time. Sometimes it seems that you lead your life, but there are times when the only way you can describe it is to say that life leads you. ...Sometimes you feel that you got to where you are now because of choices you made. And sometimes you feel that no matter what choices you made, somehow you would have ended up where you are. Which feeling is closer to the truth?"
I've often wondered about fate, destiny, a path chosen for you before it's chosen by you. It's a strange thought, that we can be led around like puppets on strings. It makes you feel very small, yes? There is a problem with thinking like that, though. Yahweh created us with free will. He has given us choices, paths. He didn't want robots, He doesn't want puppets. So if we have free will, is there really fate? Can we be led by someone/thing other than ourselves?
The answer, in my opinion, is yes. But not like a puppet is led. A puppet has a master all the time, makes a choice at no time. Paths aren't presented to him. The kind of fate that we experience is like an offering. If Yah gives us choices to make with our free will, those choices are still not given to us by us. He selects them, and we choose. It has to be that one of them is the best for us, and that is the one Yahweh is hoping, but not always pushing us toward. We have free will to make the choices set before us, but only Yahweh can set those choices there. Thus, to some degree, I believe there is fate.
I've discussed this with my boyfriend, because of the word 'soulmate'. Aaron believes it's a pretty idea, but a false one. If there are millions, billions... a whole lot of men in the world, it would be dumb for only one of them to complete you; you might never find him. I've always laughed when someone says something like, "Out of all the women/men on this planet, why did you pick me?" Well duh, the first answer is, "I haven't met every single guy/girl on the planet!" I was presented with choices, not a smorgasbord. Out of my choices, I picked you. Of the choices, you were best. You complete me better than all of the others.
As for the other side, choice, there is a lot there. And it's not as simple.
Who you are is your choice. You caused or were part of a series of events, and who you are is how you responded and what you learned from those events. What role you choose for yourself on this earth is almost entirely up to you. You can be a good kid, or a bad kid. You can take charge or you can be led. You can fight against anything and everything, or you can let the world run you over. "Life is rather like a play written by a master playwright-- Hashem. The curtain is up, the scenery is in place. The number of acts has been decided. There will be a happy ending. What role do you choose to play? The hero? The villain? The protagonist? The antagonist? The victim? That is your choice." The thing of it is, no matter who you are, what role you pick, you are an example. This is the part beyond our control. You are always an example, whether you like it or not.
My dad said, "You can be a good example, or a bad example. You can show how to do something, or how not to do something, but you are still an example." You are still an actor, you still have a role, and Yahweh will use you as He wishes. It may not always be like you thought it would. The story of Esther shows us this:
As the story goes, Esther, who is secretly Jewish, has by a strange set of circumstances married the king of Persia. (Sounds like fate at work?) But soon after, the evil prime minister, Haman, decides to destroy the Jewish people. So Esther's uncle Mordechai says to her, "We've got to save the Jewish people. Perhaps God has orchestrated things in this very manner so that you could be queen and in a position to save the Jewish people." But Esther isn't convinced. She tells Mordechai, "You know the rules of the palace. If I go to the king without being invited, he could have me killed!" And to that Mordechai says something very bizarre. "If you don't do this, Esther, then the salvation of the Jewish people will come from someplace else." That certainly doesn't sound like the way you get somebody to do something. You would think Mordechai might have said, "Esther, if you don't do this, all the Jewish people will be killed. We may be wiped out and the very Torah might perish. This may be the end of everything!" That's the way to convince somebody who would rather not be convinced-- make them feel responsible, make them feel guilty. But Mordechai doesn't say anything like that. He tells Esther that if she doesn't save the Jewish people, somebody else will. And at that point Esther makes a choice and decides to do it. To make a long story short, it is Haman who ends up on the gallows, and the Jewish people are saved. It might seem like a very strange story, but the key message is hidden in the words Mordechai speaks to Esther. It is a very basic Kabbalistic idea: The evolution of the world of love will go on no matter what. But you have a choice. Do you want to have a role in it, or not? If you don't sign on, it will still happen. But you lose out. The world won't ultimately lose out, because someone else will do it. It has to happen and it will happen. But you can be the star-- or an extra on the set. That's your choice.
"...there are different ways to fulfill Hashem's plan. You can do it in a positive way, you can do it in a negative way, but in the end it will get done. And the irony is that the very person who tries to destroy Hashem's plan will be the one who actually brings about it's fulfillment." Yahweh has plans for you. Not a plan, because you can screw that up. Plans. And no matter if you accept them or not, you will still be moved around, used, to bring His end to fruition. You will be a good example, or a bad one. But an example you will be. That is fate. Which example you will be is up to you. That is your choice. Daily, that is everyone's choice.
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