Perhaps it is because we’re so powerful,

but so unable to accept or understand or master our power, that we’ve created an exterior, omnipotent entity (or entities, depending upon the time and culture) upon which to transfer that power and the responsibility the comes with it. Continuing my stream-of-consciousness rambling: This may very well be the antithesis of The Secret, Course in Miracles and other modern spirituality disciplines, which profess that we have complete and ultimate control over our fate through our personal power to manifest; that when we regulate our vibrational frequency by simply aligning the mind (through focused thoughts and visualizations) with our heart (through our passionate engagement and emotional energy) with our body (through the appropriate actions we take) with our soul (through our believing, allowing, trusting, knowing that yes! we are part of the god-source, and can indeed tap into the universal energy and make it happen) - voila! we draw our ideal life out of the cosmos and into the physical realm ...

Rather, our belief in an almighty God, Creator outside of and above us, strips of us of this control. It also absolves us of responsibility. When it’s out of our hands, failures, unforeseen outcomes and the like don’t come as a result of our choices and actions; it’s simply our fate, or God’s will. Whew! What a relief. Who needs the pressure? Especially when we can rely on a magnificent, munificent, magnanimous (or vengeful, vindictive, judgmental, difficult and demanding, depending upon your upbringing and/or religious training) entity to take control? To handle the big stuff, the heavy lifting? To pray to for help and guidance and strength? To worship and thank when all goes well; to whom we can surrender, especially when things don’t go as we would have liked?

It also infantilizes us. Remember what it was like to be a child? Ah, yes. No need to worry about food or shelter or money or clean clothes or anything. As if my magic, it all just appeared. For the first half-dozen or so years of life, all we had to do was follow a few simple rules and we got ice cream, a soft and warm bed, toys and television and playtime and hugs. Many of the things we requested, we received (except maybe that pony). Nothing preternatural or unearthly; just Mommy and daddy taking care of all that. Our view of the world, as bountiful and safe or scant and dangerous, and our understanding of how things work, of our sense of place and purpose and importance, all start here.

Might this be the model for monotheism? Be good, adhere to a few simple rules of God the Father and He (the Supreme Being is usually if not always male) will take care of us. If we just obey the Commandments, He will provide. And if we don’t receive what we think we want, well, have patience, have faith - God must have other plans for us. Father knows best, and frequently “the Lord works in mysterious ways,” beyond our comprehension. “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …” In any event, it’s out of our hands.

Perhaps you believe that our fate has been predetermined for us, mapped out long before we’re born, by this higher power or some other force(s) of the universe. Perhaps according to some divine plan, perhaps not. Either way, it’s beyond our control … C’est la vie, baby. Que sera sera.

Could this explain why some of us appear to be born under a lucky star, upon whom good fortune seems to shower down from the heavens? While others of us, try as we may, rarely or never seem to catch a break? Because it’s all part of God’s plan, or our fate? (Or is this the result of the negative energy we generate by misguided thoughts and feelings, a la The Secret? Hmmm …)

By the same token, these beliefs take the onus off the individual even when we behave abominably. Since our destiny has been preordained for us, or is determined by God’s will and plan for us, how can we be held accountable for our actions? Even Judas was merely playing his role, integral to the larger, grander, more significant plan: without his betrayal of Jesus, there’d be no crucifixion, and no resurrection (and no Christianity) … So free will be damned; we’re all powerless pawns moved about on the board of life, where expectations or plans are easily blindsided, swept away by a bishop or rook or another pawn … Which really sucks.

What am I trying to say here? I’m not sure! I was hoping that my free-associating would lead somewhere. I do know that the thought of existing at the whim or God or the gods or fate or some entity entirely outside myself, independent of my input and influence, leaves me cold. Why bother? What’s the point? If it’s just a sometimes fun, fascinating but mostly nauseating roller coaster ride ending in a fatal crash? Perhaps our lives are driven by some combination of divine plan + random unfolding of the universe + the actions we take.

We’ll never really know, will we. Until we learn to access more than 13% of our magnificent brains, expand our view of “reality” and how the world works, and/or move to a more enlightened state of being.

What I do think, for whatever it’s worth: Our experience of life depends upon not what befalls us, but rather how we receive and what we believe re what befalls us.

So what’s your truth?

© 2010 Theresa Quadrozzi - A Muse In Manhattan