Realizing fate and responding - Essay Example

?Realizing Fate And Responding Every human being eventually gets to know what fate there is for his life. However, a person always has choices as to how to live life in the light of a known fate. Depending on how freedom of choice is exercised, and whatever decisions and risks are taken, something good or bad can take place to make a meaningful life or a tragic one. In the first place, what is fate? Or how should fate be defined? These are realities and events beyond the control of a human being, usually attributed to divine Will of God or forces. The Free Dictionary (2012) defines it as “force, principle, or power that predetermines events; the inevitable events predestined by this force.” It is not the same as faith referring to a belief which can be controlled by man. But in the present time, people are told to be the master of their own fate because it really depends on what one person does in order to achieve something during a lifetime Oedipus was a classic play involving the characters who would help Oedipus discover his fate by his search for truth through advisers, messengers, and his own mother. In the story, Oedipus ws introduced as a famous person treated by the priests as the ruler of Thebes. He was respected because his house was kept in order. His city was also known for its idealism symbolized by gods and believing in the value of love. But the land was believed to be cursed with a plague over farmlands. To find out what should be done, they consulted those who knew their gods. A chain of events followed next. Oedipus discovers his fate to be a shameful one. He discovers himself to be the killer of the king, a lover of his own mother. The truth unfolds further to make him realize that the king he had killed, King Laius, was actually his father. The curse on his land turned out to be his own doing after all the effort of trying to seek the truth. His own recommended punishment for whoever had killed King Laius became his punishment soon after he realized how he had killed his own father in the crossroad and fulfilled the prophecy that the son of a king would kill the king. Towards the end, his successor to the throne as king, Creon, said: “To know the truth of a man, wait till you see his life end. On that day, look at him. Don’t claim any man is god’s friend until he has passed through life and crossed the border into death – never having been god’s victim” (Oedipus, Last Stanza). This play was actually tragic because King Oedipus, famous as he was, allowed himself to be victimized by bad decisions for himself. It may be true that he committed many sins or shameful acts like killing a father and loving a material to the point of making her his wife and bearing children out of his own mother. Yet he had the option to forgive his mistakes and repent. There was no need to inflict physical punishment on himself out of his own initiative. Was it his fault if he did not know that the person he met and killed was his father, given the fact that he was not aware who his real father was? There was an inconsistency in the response to truth because Oedipus believed in satisfying gods as well as the people who needed to be freed from a curse. When he eventually discovered how it was predicted that he would kill his own father without his knowing the person he would kill was his father, was it not fate? Was it not unavoidable since the gods meant it to happen that way? Therefore, if Oedipus truly believes in satisfying gods, and what the gods wanted to happen was not what he wanted, he should have accepted his fate. His action to kill his own father was not his Will but the Will of gods. If he truly believes in gods, then King Oedipus should have communicated to the gods by saying he had fulfilled his destiny according to their Will even though he did not know the person he killed was his father. Then he could have venerated his father and asked for his father’s forgiveness. Instead, he acted impulsively and emotionally, failing to reflect on his realities and fate. There was no need for Oedipus to believe in the curse over the land as being his fault. If the gods he believed in wanted to banish him from the land, all he needed to do was travel away from his land along with the people who are willing to forgive him and with all the resources needed to start a new life of peace. The right decision for Oedipus was to serve his people to the end, to teach them how to face imperfections in life, and to forgive. Being a stranger as a result of giving up a throne, for not being a good model of people, would not have made Oedipus bad. He could have learned the way to happiness in a more humble life. Richard III was an example of an evil character who intentionally took the innocent lives of relatives and even children just to become the King. For him, fate depended on wicked initiatives to ensure his ascendance to the throne. His fate included a physical deformation, a greed for power, and a sadistic heart towards his surroundings. He was actually the opposite of Oedipus who believed in doing right (if only he knew what was wrong and what was right) to the extent of consulting the priest, the prophet, and other people who knew the truth. He punished himself for being the curse of the land. In contrast, Richard III pursued his selfish end to become King regardless of what other people would say. However, there was no escape from his fate for having done evil deeds against relatives and friends in order to become self-glorified. Richard III eventually lost his throne to Richmond who invaded England and killed Richard for his evil deeds. This turned out to be his inevitable downfall, his long-term fate. The glory of living as king was short-lived. Again, there was an option to consider himself as one of the rich and favoured nobe characters of England. There was no need to grab power by killing other people without any valid grounds. Richard III could have considered himself to be blessed with access to abundant resources which could have been used to build a good name as the years pass. He could have realized life is never permanent since the body grows old and eventually passes away. Each person can only accomplish so much with his available resources. within a given time. If Richard III was a believer in God, he could have performed abundant good deeds to as many people in need of concern for a good life. He could have chosen a fate pleasing in the eyes of God and serviceable to England. Instead, acting out of envy and frustration over his ugly appearance, Richard III decided in his heart by saying, “Since I cannot prove a lover, to entertain these fair spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain, and hate the idle pleasures of these days.” It was a very negative , very short sighted view of life. Richard III failed to see what great good his wealth and influence could have done for many people in need. His physical appearance should not have been the basis for his decision to rebel, if only he thought deep enough about the brevity of life. When man grows old, will ther be beauty and strength for the body regardless of who that person might be? If the body perishes, then each person should pursue whatever will not die. A good track record of services to fellowmen, especially the needy, can be forever remembered in history for many years even after the death of a person. Unfortunately, Richard III did not reach that stage of meditation. His actions were like those of hostile strangers. By not respecting anyone and doing evil deeds against people he knew, Richard III practically lived a life of a rebellious stranger out to take revenge for something done against him. Actually, his deformation was nobody’s fault. The Book of Genesis gives wisdom about man’s fate in this world. Man was created by God with dignity and for a good purpose. It is written in the Holy Bible (NIV, 2011, 1:26) : “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”. Then the bible also says (1:28) God blessed Man in order to become fruitful, to multiply, and to take full control of the earth itself aside from ruling over all living creatures on the earth. These declarations in the scriptures, particularly in Genesis, speak of the human fate of each person born into the world. Indeed there has been good news since time began. The first spoken word about man actually gives each person an extremely high dignity – as a creation in God’s own image. And this is true for both male and female. There was nothing there that said a blind man or crippled cannot be a creation in God’s own image. Apparently, the Book of Genesis does not limit the identity of man to just a physical body. There must be something else in God’s image. This should be the spiritual being of man embodied in the physical body. And such spiritual being is known today as the soul of a human being. In the Hebrew translation, the soul is “nephesh”, meaning the life within a person. According to Benner, J.A. (2005), man’s spiritual being otherwise known as the soul, is immortal and separable from the body when it dies. But it is not a meaningless spiritual being because the soul consists of a totality of a human being’s mind and heart (not only a physical heart). It is the “I” or “You” of a person who is said to be “susceptible to happiness or misery” (Benner, J.A. 2005) In a way, due to the uniqueness of each person, there is a stranger in every person. Everywhere the person goes, he should to understand the fate of other people as well, It is by knowing their fate that sharing of wisdom can be done more productively. For example, if someone knowledgeable knew the fate of Oedipus, he could have been guided not to blind himself and surrender a simple life. There can be happiness in a stranger’s life. Fate can therefore be good or bad just as a soul is susceptible to happiness or misery. If, however, a person nourishes the soul with wisdom, one of the realities for discovery will be a person’s freedom to use or direct the mind towards what it should think about, decide on, and keep busy with. Remember the soul is made of mind and heart combined. And its original fate was created in the image of God. Man should “subdue the earth” and rule all creatures in the sea or on land. And so, most people would come to ask how these can be done if there are not enough resources to begin with. It is therefore also man’s fate to go and seek the truth by learning all the ways and means possible to be able to do this God-planned fate for man. This requires discipline and self-control. If a person is to worry the whole day about some desires of life, rather than be able to learn more about the way to God’s Will, the mind will be lost with matters tempting the lust for things of the world. It is in such a world of desires where much time and energy are consumed. The original “fate” or man becomes lost in the desires of human flesh, in the man-made standards, and in bad decisions. And so, the mind should remember the noble fate each human being was born to have. It is a noble fate. To be able to realize attainment of the things needed to arrive at that noble fate, a person must lan many virtues like patience, perseverance, persistence, diligence, and so on. If Oedipus knew this, he would not have blinded himself and could have simply repented. If Richard III realized this truth about God’s Will for the human soul. He could have shown interest in generously helping people instead of aspiring for positions that won’t last. In truth, the choice belongs to the individual. Works Cited Benner, Jeff A. Biblical Word of the Month – Soul. Ancient Hebrew Research Center Issue #012, February 2005. Viewed December 16, 2012 @ http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/emagazine/012.html Biblegateway. The Holy Bible: Genesis. Biblegateway.com New International Version, 2011 Shakespeare, W.. Richard III. Sparknotes. Viewed December 16, 2012 @ http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/richardiii/ Sophocles. Oedipus, The King. Viewed December 16, 2013 @ http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html The Free Dictionary. Definition of Fate. TheFreeDictionaty.com, 2012. Read More