Free Will vs Pre-Destination

My son and I were talking the other evening and we touched upon an issue that I had not thought about in quite some time – although I am sure this age-old question still rages on. My son was speaking with me because he is suffering from a very bad case of wrong decisions.

He found himself embroiled and under the spell of a young lady that has brought him nothing but mental and emotional anguish and financial ruin - the likes of which he had never heretofore experienced. And, as with many of us; he is wondering what he has done to warrant having such an experience. His question to me was did I think his meeting of this young woman was fated and pre-destined and out of his hands; or, was he being punished for some past-life indiscretion of which he has no memory. He is in much pain and this prior relationship has paralyzed him and made him suspicious and gun shy. I fear he is walking away from a potentially sane and beneficial relationship for fear that the new young lady is putting up a false face and will show her true colors when it is too late. I feel his pain.

I came to the conclusion years ago that if I were going to accept that I had been endowed by the Creator of all things with divine free-will; then my life could not be pre-destined or pre-ordained or fated. I think many of us suffer from the consequences of not paying conscious attention to our mental, emotional, spiritual, and manifest surroundings. So many of us are sleepwalking through life and simply do not pay attention until we are drowning in some quagmire of issues and circumstances that we alone have created.

Setting your intention and paying conscious attention is valuable as you make your way through this wonderful thing called life. If you know where and why you are moving in a certain direction; it is much easier to spot those distractions you will meet along your travels and remove them quickly before they create issues for you. This is not to say that you will not have challenges. Distractions in the form of people, places, and things, are consistent in their appearance. But the Universe is not against us and there is no GOD that wants us to suffer in any manner during our lifetimes on this plane. All is about evolution and learning and nothing is about punishment. Practiced, conscious awareness produces strong intuition; strong intuition keeps us from being embroiled, blind-sided or derailed from our goals and intents.

When you know who you are and what you need by way of companionship and you are awaken from your sleepwalking state; you will spot intuitively those people, places, and things you need to avoid in an instant -- not days or weeks or even months. Spirit is instantaneous – intellect can be laborious and time-consuming as you constantly try to weight “this” against “that” – the pro and con list.

I suggested to my son that he think back and recall the twinge of intuition that he got that told him to steer clear of this young lady. I knew he must have gotten it because I got it the very first time I saw the e-mailed picture of the two of them. I guess twinge is not the correct word for me – I got a chill – I knew he was rushing head long into turmoil and discord. I did not; however, interfere – recognizing that this is his life and therefore his lessons to learn. I have three adult children and I have made it my practice to mind my own business and stay out of their affairs. This has paid off – in spades! When they do come and speak with me, I remain non-judgmental and speak to them from a spiritual position of evolution and lessons that are designed to promote growth and healing. I never allow them to beat themselves up or treat themselves in a disrespectful manner. So, in keeping with this policy, I counseled my son. He admitted to me that he did, indeed, feel that something was not right and he should extricate himself and not move forward with this young lady; but instead he let his intellect override his intuition and now he is suffering the consequences of that decision. He is getting a very hard lesson; but I try to keep encouraging him to move through the lessons and to keep his spirits high. I remind him to call upon his Guides and Angels for the strength to make it through.

I told him that I do not believe in fate; but I do believe in free-will unconditionally and without exception. As with all lessons, they will pass and we will emerge on the other side somewhat wiser in a given area. There is never a need to berate ourselves for missed opportunities, or attention deficits and the Creator of all Things does not fate any lessons; there are simply natural consequences to any given action or series of actions that we ourselves set in motion.

Often our Spiritual Guides and Spiritual Teachers allow us to experience consequences so that we may learn. As for me, I firmly hold that life is a series of possibility, probability, and actuality, and each of these aspects comes with a myriad of choices that move you along this path. Every thought we think that is set with intense emotion will become actuality and so we are admonished to watch our thoughts and keep a tight reign on our emotions. Many of us; however, did not get the memo and so we have created some interesting experiences. Such is life.

Divine free-will and the self-responsibility that comes with it is the only way the Creator of All Things operates with respect to our being. Within those fixed Universal Laws of action and consequences; we are given a myriad of choices and each one carries an outcome; but it is not fated or pre-destined; it is merely a consequence and there is nothing punitive or personal for that matter, about the consequence itself. As always; if you want to experience a different consequence set a different course of action.

Deepak Chopra on a tape “The Way of the Wizard”, gives an account about Merlin and the boy Arthur during one of Merlin’s many training sessions. Merlin was giving Arthur a lesson in the merits of living “backwards in time”. As Merlin taught by experience, he told Arthur to dig a ditch. Arthur complied. When he finished, Merlin told him to fill it up again. Arthur again, complied. Merlin then asked Arthur what he thought of this little exercise. Arthur, protesting, said the exercise was pointless. Merlin replied that this was exactly his point. If he (Arthur) learned to live “backwards in time”, he would have seen that digging the ditch was pointless and not began the task in the first place.

For me, personally, this is a lesson in conscious awareness – setting your intent and focusing your attention. You know exactly the outcome you want to achieve; and since you do, you will avoid those people, places, and circumstances, that distract you as you can see ahead of time where a given association will take you. This is what we need to practice until it is a part of us and automatic – living from our desired outcomes – or backwards in time. Once we begin to exercise conscious control we begin to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are beings of divine free-will and our lives are not fated or pre-determined.

Here is a final thought for you to take into your meditation. If we are to accept what we are told by the Apostle Paul that God is no respecter of persons; fate and/or pre-determination would imply that God chooses certain humans to have certain experiences which could not possibly be the case. Take a few moments and be with this idea that God does not play favorites. See where your meditation of this takes you.