Who or What Weaves Our Fate?

Can we choose our destiny, or is it already chosen for us?

FATEIs It Selected For Us?

• To what degree?• Do we make up is as we go

along?• Do we have to? Or can we plan

ahead?• To what extent?

Do We Control It?• Do we have any say?• Can we fight it?• Who chooses it? • Is it God, our family, our

friends, our leaders?

We squander each lifeDealing with strife

While climbing up life’s treeThis tree unique to me

Is it selected for us?

Does someone or something greater choose our destiny?

Justinian I, Emperor of Byzantium

He thought that…• The fate we live out on

earth was chosen for us by an almighty power

• fate is a path, and to stray from that path earned you eternal damnation

• Fate must be accepted, for it is indestructible and unalterable

It’s trunk is the baseA fact we must face

It may not be carved in stoneIt is unalterable, and we must walk it alone

John Calvin

Saw fate as• everyone and everything was well

thought out and planned by God• God's foreknowledge of the way in

which they will either freely reject Christ or freely accept him, and if it came to reject, he made their fate one of eternal damnation

• "There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice.” – John Calvin

“Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. ... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards.”

-Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

If our fate is selected…

Can we fight it, can we change our fates?

But then we come to a place where, into branches, the trunk will splitAnd one limb may be lit

Or you may not know which to chooseAnd all you can think about is what you have to lose

The Unknown Rebel

•Some would say his fate was to live in Communist China and he was to accept it.

•He didn’t accept it.

•Whether he is dead or alive, he is an anonymous warrior whose goal was peace.

•June 5, 1989 in Tiananmen Square.

The Merging of Two Sides of Berlin

•Regardless, the wall fell, and they lived in United Berlin.•Does this mean their fate was to make sure the wall was brought down?•Or was their fate to live in East Berlin and they managed to change it?

•East Berliners were fated to live under Communist Rule.

Do we make our own fate?

Can we have complete free will and shape our destinies? Or are there

other pulling effects?

However the choice may not always be quickThe route you will take, is solely your pick

Sometimes the branch may breakSometimes the branch may be fake

Dr. Bernard Kouchner• Believes:

– All have rights to medical care– Providing care supersedes nation

borders– We have the power to change our

fate• And the fate of others…

• Acts:- To heal the sick – change their

fate- To convince the powerful –

change the world’s fate- To inspire us to act

Henry Ford

• Believed:– We control our destiny– Our belief or lack of

belief determines success of failure

•Acted:- To improve workers lives

with increased pay- Created Ford Motor

Company as an international force in business

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”-Henry Ford

Sometimes the branch isn’t climbable after allSometimes the branch is so frail, you’re forced to crawl

You’ve been misleadAnd with that you might wind up dead

What does it take to control your fate?

Knowledge

Responsibility

Empowerme

nt

Self-Control

Self-Esteem Faith

Support

Is it all of these things?

Or is it none?

We are without a

map until we can see the

light at the end of the

tunnel.

We walk alone in the dark tunnel, with no guidance of where the tunnel turns.

We are without a guide, until there is a flicker of light amongst the dark, or until the end doth cometh.

For the branch may be weakSo we must think, before we speak

The branch may be smallBut we have to take a leap of faith, and pray we don’t fall

Come, the End

So, here we are. We are born, and we will die. But we have all of our lives to draw our own lines in the sand, and to take the path less trodden.

For each branchIs a chance

A Tree of FateWe squander each life

Dealing with strifeWhile climbing up life’s tree

This tree unique to meIt’s trunk is the baseA fact we must face

It may not be carved in stoneIt is unalterable, and we must walk it alone

But then we come to a place where, into branches, the trunk will splitAnd one limb may be lit

Or you may not know which to chooseAnd all you can think about is what you have to lose

However the choice may not always be quickThe route you will take, is solely your pick

Sometimes the branch may breakSometimes the branch may be fake

Sometimes the branch isn’t climbable after allSometimes the branch is so frail, you’re forced to crawl

You’ve been misleadAnd with that you might wind up dead

For the branch may be weakSo we must think, before we speak

The branch may be smallBut we have to take a leap of faith, and pray we don’t fall

For each branchIs a chance

That leads us to our future

Fate