every year, come this time, i look back and feel it's amazing how the year has passed so quickly. every christmas, i never fail to think to myself, "oh man, i still remember the last christmas..." and i do. last christmas, i remember i was at home talking to someone via sms. somehow, i felt too sick to eat our very yummy christmas dinner. i also felt unsettled. and i gave midnight mass a miss. with the blink of an eye; it's christmas time again. this time, i'll probably be talking to that same person via sms. but i dont imagine feeling too sick to eat. don't imagine feeling unsettled either. and i'm definitely going for midnight mass. (i just hope i wont have too much (if any) work over this christmas season! *xx*)
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This blog entry is delayed. But anyway, i was at church that day, and the priest was talking about Jesus' birth i.e. how the angel came down upon Mary and told her that she, a virgin, was to conceive a child - the saviour of the world. The priest told us that Mary's decision to accept, was in exercise of her free will - while God planned for her to be the mother of our saviour, she could have said "no" if she wanted to. But how can that be? What if she did in fact say "no"? Surely God knew she would definitely say "yes" - surely he planned for her to say "yes"? And so that got me thinking, "is there such a thing as free will?" If we believe in "God's will"/ fate, then the decisions we make don't matter - because at the end of the day, do what we like, what's meant to be will be. So unless the idea of "free will" is the mere exercise of freedom to make a decision; we do not have free will in the true sense, insofar as the end has already been decided/ imposed on us. A possible counter argument could be that there are different paths we may choose to take - God has a different "end" planned for us, depending on which choice we make. In that way, our choice does have a bearing on the outcome (i.e. if I choose A, God's planned outcome for me is X; but if I choose B, God's planned outcome for me would be XX etc.) But then that doesn't work so well either. Because given that God is God (i.e. all powerful and ever knowing); he would already know the decision we will make. So even if there are a million different possible decisions with corresponding outcomes; in making a decision, there is again no free will in the true sense, because the outcome is already known. Therefore, I don't think we have "free will" in the true sense of the term. We have "free will" insofar as we can make decisions freely. But beyond the decision-making process, we do not have the power to will any particular outcome. What's your idea of "free will"?
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i'm not gonna say anything, save that this was a very timely reminder; so spot-on it's "scary"; and that it really really struck me. oh, i also want to say I'm not trying to preach or evangelize or whatever. my present take on the Bible is more personal than anything else. there are some really important lessons and thought provoking accounts there. so anyway. The parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) Then he told them a particular parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "there was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary'. For a long time the judge was unwiling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me, I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me'. " The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (From the "New American Bible")
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today, while waiting for the bus in chinatown/ opposite the sub courts, i saw an old lady strapped to a stretcher, head bleeding, and being carried onto the ambulance. the ambulance was there before i reached the bus stop, but she was brought there only after i had sat down, taken out my ipod, and listened to 5 whole songs. when i saw her, i had to fight back tears. and all i could do was pray.
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