Who or What Weaves Our Fate?

2. Who or What Weaves Our Fate? Can we choose our destiny, or is it already chosen for us?

3. FATE Is It Selected For Us? Do We Control It? Do we have any say? Can we fight it? Who chooses it? Is it God, our family, our friends, our leaders? • To what degree? • Do we make up is as we go along? • Do we have to? Or can we plan ahead? • To what extent?

4. We squander each lifeDealing with strifeWhile climbing up life’s treeThis tree unique to me

5. Is it selected for us? Does someone or something greater choose our destiny?

6. Justinian I, Emperor of Byzantium He thought that… • The fate we live out on earth was chosen for us by an almighty power • fate is a path, and to stray from that path earned you eternal damnation • Fate must be accepted, for it is indestructible and unalterable

7. It’s trunk is the baseA fact we must faceIt may not be carved in stoneIt is unalterable, and we must walk it alone

8. John Calvin Saw fate as • everyone and everything was well thought out and planned by God • God's foreknowledge of the way in which they will either freely reject Christ or freely accept him, and if it came to reject, he made their fate one of eternal damnation • "There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice.” • John Calvin

9. “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. ... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards.” Pope Benedict XVI -Pope Benedict XVI

10. If our fate is selected… Can we fight it, can we change our fates?

11. But then we come to a place where, into branches, the trunk will splitAnd one limb may be litOr you may not know which to chooseAnd all you can think about is what you have to lose

12. The Unknown Rebel • June 5, 1989 in Tiananmen Square. • Some would say his fate was to live in Communist China and he was to accept it. • He didn’t accept it. • Whether he is dead or alive, he is an anonymous warrior whose goal was peace.

13. The Merging of Two Sides of Berlin • East Berliners were fated to live under Communist Rule. • Regardless, the wall fell, and they lived in United Berlin. • Does this mean their fate was to make sure the wall was brought down? • Or was their fate to live in East Berlin and they managed to change it?

14. Do we make our own fate? Can we have complete free will and shape our destinies? Or are there other pulling effects?

15. However the choice may not always be quickThe route you will take, is solely your pickSometimes the branch may breakSometimes the branch may be fake

16. Dr. Bernard Kouchner • Believes: • All have rights to medical care • Providing care supersedes nation borders • We have the power to change our fate • And the fate of others… • Acts: • To heal the sick – change their fate • To convince the powerful – change the world’s fate • To inspire us to act

17. Henry Ford • Believed: • We control our destiny • Our belief or lack of belief determines success of failure • Acted: • To improve workers lives with increased pay • Created Ford Motor Company as an international force in business

18. “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” -Henry Ford

19. Sometimes the branch isn’t climbable after allSometimes the branch is so frail, you’re forced to crawlYou’ve been misleadAnd with that you might wind up dead

20. Knowledge Self-Control Empowerment What does it take to control your fate? Responsibility Support Self-Esteem Faith

21. Is it all of these things? Or is it none?

22. We walk alone in the dark tunnel, with no guidance of where the tunnel turns. We are without a map until we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

23. We are without a guide, until there is a flicker of light amongst the dark, or until the end doth cometh.

24. For the branch may be weakSo we must think, before we speakThe branch may be smallBut we have to take a leap of faith, and pray we don’t fall

25. Come, the End So, here we are. We are born, and we will die. But we have all of our lives to draw our own lines in the sand, and to take the path less trodden.

27. For each branchIs a chance

28. A Tree of Fate We squander each life Dealing with strife While climbing up life’s tree This tree unique to me It’s trunk is the base A fact we must face It may not be carved in stone It is unalterable, and we must walk it alone But then we come to a place where, into branches, the trunk will split And one limb may be lit Or you may not know which to choose And all you can think about is what you have to lose However the choice may not always be quick The route you will take, is solely your pick Sometimes the branch may break Sometimes the branch may be fake Sometimes the branch isn’t climbable after all Sometimes the branch is so frail, you’re forced to crawl You’ve been mislead And with that you might wind up dead For the branch may be weak So we must think, before we speak The branch may be small But we have to take a leap of faith, and pray we don’t fall For each branch Is a chance That leads us to our future Fate