Usually thursdaynight is the night I do Tai Chi. Since it's been rather busy at work lately, I go straight from the office to the deli in the shoppingmall nearby to get me a quick bite and then straight to Tai Chi. I didn't really feel like going today though, I was rather tired and so I just stepped into the car and drove home. So I took a left turn at the intersection and turned on my radio. After about five minutes, halfway through the six 'o clock news, I heard there was a shoot out right in front of the deli where I would have been eating my sandwich!
It makes me wonder why I took that left turn towards home in the first place. Was it coincidence? Was it fate? Fate sounds nice of course, but the longer you think about it, the less attractive it gets. I like to think that I drove home because I wanted to. It was my choice. I might just as well have been going to that deli if I felt like it. But that's not possible with fate now is it? We can't have me going to the deli risking a bullet in the head while fate planned for me to live untill five in the morning on march 15 2036. So with fate, out goes our free will and life becomes a bit like a movie: You are there, you see, hear and even feel what happens, but you do not have any influence on what happens next. You can try of course, like when watching that thriller and you scream: "Behind you, you stupid girl, look behind you!!". But she's not going to turn around while the psychopath sneaks up behind her. You know he'll get closer first. Hiding in a dark corner of the alley when she stops because she thinks she's hearing something. And then, when he finally is close enough and slowly raises the butcherknife, she'll turn around and scream righ before he kills her.
On the other hand, life could be more like a roleplayinggame. God is the Gamemaster and he prepared this fabulous campaign. He's got all the detais worked out, all possibilities taken care off. It's going to be the best campaign ever! But then come the players and within five minutes the gamemaster is miles away from the story he planned. "No you stupid bitch, not the apple, you're not supposed to eat the apple, I need that later on!" But, as I am sure every gamemaster knows, she will eat that apple. So what do you do when you're the Gamemaster? You wing it! Sure, not everything will go perfect, but when things go wrong we'll just do what gamemasters do and say it was intentional. Players fall for that way to easy you know, and apparently so do we. It makes perfect sense to me now. God must be so happy I'm having a quiet evening at home. It gives him a little extra time to prepare tomorrows session.
