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Does everything happen for a reason? Does God control man or does man control God? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? What possible difference can it make? Unless you believe that the personified Supreme Ruler of the universe is personally guiding you past the speed trap on highway 105 so that you can shave ten minutes off your morning commute or guiding your hand to the perfectly ripe cantaloupe at the grocery store, you have to realize that whatever the truth of the Supreme Being is, it does not involve manipulating your day to day activities. Predestination and free will are diametrically opposite to each other. An omniscient, loving God could not create a universe that contains evil nor could "He" punish moral failures "He" knew would occur. Either God created Lucifer knowing he would introduce evil into the world or God was justifiably shocked by the angelic rebellion. You can't have it both ways.

The problem is that all religions must identify and describe its supreme being but, by doing so, that body of religious thought also places very human limitations on its God. If god is beyond understanding then why not leave it at that. We should accept personal responsibility for those things within our control and be proactive in those areas. When events occur that we cannot control we should learn to react in the most positive way available to us without assigning blame to unseen forces. When the church van plunges off the cliff and five of the twenty on board survive you can't say God spared them through his mercy without saying why the others were snuffed. It's every bit as logical to say that it was the van driver's time to go and he took the others for company.

Those who feel the need to congregate should congregate. Those who think praying yields positive effects should pray. Let God be God and, rather than trying to put the Supreme being, however you envision that entity, into a box, go about the business of being the very best person you can be during your biblically alloted three score and ten years. Whatever the "truth" of the universe might be, it is not only beyond our control, it is beyond our understanding. When all else fails take comfort in the words of Heinrich Heine, "Dieu me pardonnera; c'est son metier." God will forgive me, it's His job.

Learn more about this author, Rick Fontes.
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