Second, we must get used to the reality of death, in its pain and ugliness as well as its ultimate wonder. Hiding behind comfortable stereotypes only works while the going is easy. That, combined with deep faith, should keep the wolf from the door at least until the ultimate agony. At that point, we are truly, I must admit, in God's hands.
On another topic, a phrase repeated by Deepak Chopra several times in his latest book was that, with wider spiritual perception, we get a sense of our destiny - that we are destined, even for purposes beyond our own desires. This is a common theme among the spiritual, and I believe it, again intuitively, but this often makes me think of those whose destinies seem so tragic or pointless. There are those born into crushing poverty in societies where there is virtually no hope of ever rising above it. There are also those who, from circumstances and predispositions, become alcoholics or drug addicts. Are these examples of destiny? For the latter we might say that they gave up their destiny, as someone might give up a birthright, but for the others, "destiny" seems another word for the existence of a cruel god.
Nearing the conclusion to A Kim Jong-Il Production, it is hard to say that this nation of slaves, of people who through no fault of their own were caught in a vice of violence and domination, have any destiny of their own besides that of the Dear Leader. We have another example of this - the period of bondage of Israel in Egypt. For 400 years, people lived lives that were subsumed by their masters. However, if we believe the Bible, there was a collective destiny, and if we believe the New Testament, that particular destiny led to the saving of the world. Yet what good was that to a slave who was born and died hundreds of years before the Exodus?
In the same vein, I know people who were raised in alcoholic households who have done wonderful things because of their own hardships. But was the purpose of the hopelessly alcoholic parents only to raise a good child because of their own loss of purpose?
We get through these considerations what my teachers in college called "Just-so Stories," explanations that work out due to hindsight rather than inductive reasoning. Yet what Chopra said I believe is true - there is another theater of perception that defies our daily sense of logic. At a certain point we might indeed get that sense of destiny. From my own experiences, it is a strong and beautiful sense of belonging, of being right with the world - but it does not necessarily suggest any actions or rewards in daily life. Like many things of the spirit, it must be experienced to be understood. In it, an Untouchable left to make his living picking from garbage heaps might get a greater sense of purpose than a president of a nation. It defies logic, causes scoffing and disbelief, but once sensed, this insight seems truer than anything else. In the end, it must be that a sense of destiny can only be found by the individual, who either seeks it or is blessed with it through no fault of his own. FK