Essay - Different Paths - Part 1

January 19, 2019

This is part 1 of a 3-part series.

Does life have different paths?

I decide to take a particular road and am then involved in an accident. Life would be different.

If I had left just 10 seconds later, would I have missed that accident? Life would be different.

If I had taken a different road, would I have missed that accident? Life would be different.

You decide to go out for dessert; you sit at one particular table facing a particular direction, would we have met? Life would be different.

You could have walked a different route than you usually walk, would we have met? Life would be different.

A different path results in a different life, a different future.

If I had taken the route I usually take, you and I possibly would never have met. Life would be different.

If I had left a minute or two later you and I may not have met. Life would be different.

If you had chosen a different route, you and I may not have met. Life would be different.

This is something I struggle with - does life have different paths?

The bible talks about being "predestined" but just what does that mean? And how much of our day-to-day life is "predestined"?

I wonder about this because I have been a Christian all my life, and have been taught about predestination in church sermons over the years. But, how much of our life is predestined? All of it? Every second? Every minute? Or just the overall story of our life - the beginning and the end?

And how does "free will" fit in with predestination? If I choose not to take this bus because it's too crowded, and choose to take the next bus, is it because I chose to do this? Or was I predestined to make this choice?

The same for choosing anything - a particular table in a restaurant, which road to drive on to avoid the traffic, the time to eat my lunch - are these choices mine? Am I making these out of my own free will? Or are they predestined?

Am I on the only possible path for my life?

Is there possibly another path that I can't possibly know, or be aware of, even if I'm on it?