I've been thinking about the concept of "fate" a lot recently. I've come to the conclusion that you can come to no conclusion about fate. It's a mysterious force that somehow guides our lives, but because we cannot see it, we can only believe that it exists... somewhere... beyond our realm of perception.

Providence.
Have you ever taken a long walk on a foggy day? Not the kind of fog that just overcasts the sun, but the kind of fog that hides your own front yard and sticks to your skin. That's what I picture when I think of providence. God has a path laid out for you but you just can't see what lies ahead. You can only see where your feet are now and try to avoid the puddles and broken sidewalks and dog shit. God has a path laid out for you, and you just have to trust that you're going in the right direction. Sometimes you trip, sometimes you sit down on the curb and cry, but eventually you get up and start moving in the right direction again.

Chance
Erase the picture of a casino from your mind, that's not the kind of chance I'm talking about. Fate, I've heard, doesn't direct our lives, but gives us chances. Fate guides us through the thousands of options that we have every moment of our lives and brings us to the doorstep of the important ones. At that point, fate has done her work and it is up to us to proceed alone. I can't help but think that there's more to fate than this though. I can't help but think that being brought to the same doorstep of decision time and time again is fate telling me to choose differently this time.

Fairytales
Someday I will write a paper condemning Mother Goose. Someday I will realize that my name will never scroll by at the end of a romantic comedy. The hero and the heroine are drawn together against all odds by fate, and fate wraps them up all safe to exist in a blissful ever after. But I don't wear glass slippers and I don't want to marry royalty. Sometimes I think that fate is only in fairytales and that if I wait for fate to take my hand, I'll die with my frail fingers wiping tears from the pages of Mother Goose.

More thoughts on fate to come... if fate wills it to be so.