ing as it s!

ARE WE in control of our
own destinies or not?

There are days when I believe
we are, and there are other days
when | doubt it.

But every ance ina while a day
comes along when [ feel mysel€ in
the grip of some vastly smarter,
feeater force than puny old me.

And on those days [know it.

Such days are fairly rare nows-
days, | am, after all, as | get oldes,
getting more jaded. I've seen so
many miracles and stiggering coin-

cidences in Jife that what's another
AMnazing experience? ? /

The question is: is there same
kind of a feedback loop between
you and the events unfolding
around you?

Do we make things happen? Or
do they happen, and we are forced
10 go along with them?

- Active or passive? Creators of
our own fates or shives to fate
itself?

.. The question af duck fins to be
» factored in here, A lucky person

has a fur different experience of life

than‘an unlucky person.

Is luck an external force playing
at random, or is ita built-in knack
for finding four-leaf clovers?

Some people live charmed exis-

‘tences, We all know that, But what
do we mean by “charmed?”

Does it mean a fairy sprinkled
magic powder on us and waved her

wand? Are we talking Tinkerbelle
here, or are we just trying to'slap an

‘ innocuous labe} over an Immense

=. cosmic questian?

°.-* Why are some people jucky?

Why are others cursed?

' Theosophists — and | believe
there dre still some around — argue
that it all has to do with the work-

“ings of karma; which, boiled down
.. to its simplest level, means you get
back what you dish cut.
It's the Eastern version of “ye
“reap what ye sow.” with the extra
“ingredient that it is applied in the
cantext of reincarnation.
“The trouble with karma, for me
is that it smacks of Calvinism.
which contains the idea that “the
_ ‘Light shines upon the righteous.”
a> These two notions. Calvinism
and karma, would seem to be belief
‘systems tailored for rich, or at least
"healthy people,
They unfortunately condemn
whole continent-loads of other peo-
ple toa living purgatory, while
: allowing those of us protected
inside our industrialized fortresses
to wash our hands of their suffer-

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Bob
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STRICTLY PERSONAL

ing. After all, bad karma, ch?

We, on the other hand, cin savor

our wealthy exisiences without any

> twinges of conscience. We must
have done something good in this
ora previous lifetime, and here is
our reward: being born, say, in
West Vancouver, of all the places
on this benighted planet.

When | say “we,” FT mean our
conscious selves, she everyday
waking “you” and “me.”

it may be that this particular
portion of ourselves — the surface
awareness -~ is only a fragment of
the real self. In which case, the
question of whether we control our
destinies has to be asked again.
Does some “higher self or a soul,
maybe, contro) our destinies for us?

When | was a kid. the part of
Catholicism Liked the best was the
idea of a Guardian Angel. ‘That was
comforting. :

But then awful things, like
dying, happened to people around
me, aid TP couldn't help but wonder
if their Guardian Angels had been
asicep at the switch or off golfing.

There was too much evidence
that you couldn't count on yaur
Guardian Angel in the crunch.

I'm a guy who has come close to
wiping out, er being wiped out,
often enough to know what my
final thoughis will be: none.

Each time I came within inches
or minutes of dying, my mind went
blank. And cach time, afterwards, [

“And I, if }

be lifted up,
will draw all
men unto ME!”

felt nearly totally reborm.

What 1 did notice was every-
thing going on around me, every
nuance of the scene, every detail of
the Jighting, every sound — vivid-
iy. Like taking in one last greedy
sturp of aliveness.

But no revelation came, So {
have a feeling when | do finally
depart. f won't know any more then
than 1 do now, ['H die ignorant, as 1
was born. Maybe afterwards TM
know,

Alb of which is to say, Edon't
know the answer (to the question f
raised.

My suspicion, hawyver, is that
so long as we are really only think-
ing in terms of lifetimes spent on
this planet, wheiher one life asa
Christian or many as a Suddhist,
we ure probably keeping our sights
too tow,

Look up! We five on the cdge of
galaxy, with billions of suns,
which is but ang gahay in the
midst of whut is turning outta be
an infiniie supergalaxy.

‘There lias to be some connection
between us and what happests out
there.

h seemis hopelzssly parochint
and isolationist to pander the qu
tion of our destinies without faking
into consideration the fact that we
live in the midst of all this.

Rather than the skies being
empty, E believe them to be filled
with fife in every direction, if we
could only see far enough,

Sure, ibere’s the Light Barrier,
litniting the speed at which mass
can teavel through normal space,
But what would physteai distance
be to an entity like a spirit or a soul
or an “oversoul” any: way’?

If we don’t have souls ~~ if we
are simply thinking animals — then
our fate is probably in our own
hands entirely, and all we can do is
hope to avoid being at the wrong
place at the wrong time.

But if we do have a soul, our
fate is probably in its hands, rather
chan our own, and whatever its
agenda is. weil, God only knows.

In the end we will ali be cut
down, or released, whichever way
it turns out, That's the one part we
ultimately do nat control. So maybe
the rest of it doesn't really matter
that much. Enjoy.

THE CROSS

GOOD FRIDAY CROSS WALK

sponsored by
Holy Trinity Chucch
2725 Lensdale

We invite all followers of Jesus Christ to join us
(We will do the Stations of the Cross along the way
and sing hyrnns)

Walk starts on Good Friday. April 1, at 5pm from
Holy Trinity Church to bottom of Lonsdale and back

~

B

r

Seed em we mh
Pa!

Monday March 28 and
Thursday March 31

10:00am ~ 4:00pm & 7:00pm - 8:00pm

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Labour $8.50 per
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CUSTOM DRAPERIES & BLINDS
At low, low prices.
For FREE Estimates

call 987-2966
(Ask about Seniors’ Discounts)
Serving the North Shor:' far 22 years

If you have $50,000 or more tc inyest, you are invited
to @ special tuncheon that answers‘this question.

Park Royal. Hotel, River Room |
Friday. April 8, 1994 — 11:30am.

PLACE:

DATE & TIME:

Please call:

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