True Or False? I’m The Master Of My Fate; I’m The Captain Of My Soul

The quote in this thread’s title is from a poem called "Invictus," written by the English poet William Ernest Henley.

I’m a believer in God and a non-practicing Catholic and I need a little advice.

Lately, I've been thinking about the meaning of my life and have often wondered if I control my fate, or if it has already been predetermined by my Creator.

I thought, perhaps, that a few of you, who believe in God and who are more knowledgeable on this subject, could help me understand the concept of fate.

Fate:

the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time:

that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny

LINK

So, are we truly the “Master” of our own fate?

If God is in fact, omnipotent, he’s then aware of what was, what is and what will be.

If this is the case, why would it be wrong of me to think that my life has already been programmed to unfold a certain way? If my fate has already been predetermined, what difference does it make that I have “free will” to make whatever choice I want?

I have always believed that God gives us life, in order for us to evolve our souls and learn from our experiences here on Earth.

I believe that evil exists to tempt us to do wrong and to weaken our faith and love for our Heavenly Father.

However, if God knows of my future choices, then has my life’s path already been set for me, regardless if I’m the one making the choices that seemingly affect it? Even though I’m free to choose to live my life as I please, in reality, am I just an actor carrying out a role in this physical world?

I've been struggling with depression for a number of years now. I've made a few choices, that have helped significantly...getting off Paxil, working out, cutting down on sugar and eating healthier, as well as praying more.

Was I meant to have depression, so that I could learn from the experience? What if I didn't make any changes to my life and ended up committing suicide? Where's the life lesson in that outcome? What role, if any, does our choices actually make if everything is suppose to play out a certain way?

Is the “mystery of life” all about determining why this is?

True.....Flagg dad

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Both are True.
Fate is real, God has written the script of the Universe and it's set in stone.

AND you get to decide your path in it. Whatever you decide is what will be and God knew this from the beginning. God designed it and invented you.

So both overlap and are True. There is no actual inconsistency here.

The point of all of this is - that you need to decide how you want to live your life. Hopefully you will stay focused on God, remain Thankful, and do the best you can. Ask God for every little thing you need. Just give God what he asks of you in return. Build upon it.

So Live your Life, find Happiness and Joy if possible.

a reply to: shawmanfromny
Both. It's a joint project.
Biblically speaking, we need to believe in our own control enough to take responsibility, and to believe in God's control enough not to feel fear.
The logic of the way the two are reconciled is not our problem.

I’m not a believer in the biblical god but I’ll give you my take on the questions you ask.

I think we are here to learn something, I think if we don’t learn it we are sent back (reincarnation) to have another go at learning it and we keep coming back over and over until we do learn it.

I believe in fate to a degree but I don’t believe anything is predetermined. There might be something we are “fated” to do but if we make the wrong choices we might miss our fate.

The flip side of this is that our lives are predetermined and at the end of our lives we are given a test to see if we learned whatever lesson the universe put in front of us.

This is as simple as I could make a very complex concept that I often ponder myself.

To me I always think of suicide as the easy way out and if that’s the road you take you will most likely just be sent back and in the next life have the same problems put in front of you till you handle/accept them correctly.

Hope this helps with whatever you are going through

a reply to: shawmanfromny

My wife was severely sexually abused by her step father as a child. Some how I dont think God set that fate in motion before she was born. That would make God the instigator of evil.

He knows how it ends, but he gives you choice

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
The quote in this thread’s title is from a poem called "Invictus," written by the English poet William Ernest Henley.

I’m a believer in God and a non-practicing Catholic and I need a little advice.

Lately, I've been thinking about the meaning of my life and have often wondered if I control my fate, or if it has already been predetermined by my Creator.

I thought, perhaps, that a few of you, who believe in God and who are more knowledgeable on this subject, could help me understand the concept of fate.

Fate:

the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time:

that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny

LINK

So, are we truly the “Master” of our own fate?

If God is in fact, omnipotent, he’s then aware of what was, what is and what will be.

If this is the case, why would it be wrong of me to think that my life has already been programmed to unfold a certain way? If my fate has already been predetermined, what difference does it make that I have “free will” to make whatever choice I want?

I have always believed that God gives us life, in order for us to evolve our souls and learn from our experiences here on Earth.

I believe that evil exists to tempt us to do wrong and to weaken our faith and love for our Heavenly Father.

However, if God knows of my future choices, then has my life’s path already been set for me, regardless if I’m the one making the choices that seemingly affect it? Even though I’m free to choose to live my life as I please, in reality, am I just an actor carrying out a role in this physical world?

I've been struggling with depression for a number of years now. I've made a few choices, that have helped significantly...getting off Paxil, working out, cutting down on sugar and eating healthier, as well as praying more.

Was I meant to have depression, so that I could learn from the experience? What if I didn't make any changes to my life and ended up committing suicide? Where's the life lesson in that outcome? What role, if any, does our choices actually make if everything is suppose to play out a certain way?

Is the “mystery of life” all about determining why this is?

God has gifted you the freedom to choose your own path...and if you don't do it someone other than God as you define it shall.It is like an unused vote in a pseudo-democracy....if you dont use it "somebody will" .If you don't define your own Journey those around you shall do it for you.

Within reason we are the masters of our fate. We often cannot have full control over our lives, society and some powerful people do control a lot of our options. It is like being on a limb oof a tree, we can choose a path on the branch but going to a different branch is not always possible, most times people are limited so they never can get to the top of the tree.

Who you know helps us get ahead often, your personality can also get you ahead. Some people use deception to get up the ladder to the higher levels, evidently that is promoted as acceptable in the USA these days. But it can cost you your soul, when you get old and look back on your life you usually see a lot of foolish things you did to get ahead, you realize that some of the best people you met were used as steps as you climbed the ladder to success. But some people think accomplishing fame and fortune is great, that stepping on heads to get there is just fine, even right up to their death. I feel sorry for those people, they wasted their lives being hateful and hurting others on their climb to the top. I would not do that, but knew many people who were like that all their lives. You often are your own judge when you get old. I have no regrets so far, except maybe I should have been honest with my kids and told them when they were going astray more when they were younger instead of listening to my wife saying that "kids have to make their own mistakes...don't say anything to them" I have been trying to advise them for ten years now and I am finding that they actually appreciate me warning them in advance when I see them on the wrong path, I do it resonably and let them choose, just give them constructive criticism or try to give them stories of similar mistakes I and others have made. Funny how at first they ignored me, and now they listen when I say something, both daughhters google things I say now to unsuccessfuly try to prove me wrong.

It all a point of view, only a machine or apparently the Pope must have a mind of a steel trap.

So the answer is 010, or was it 101?

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Mostly false, you may be captain of your soul but just like the captain of a ship you don’t control the elements which can potentially wreck your ship.

We are products of our environment as well as of are genes, as individuals we don’t have any say in either. We just have to try to do the best with the circumstances we find ourselves in. Perhaps we’re here for the challenge of it all as much as anything else?

So we our captains of our ship with the free will to steer it where we wish, but in an environment that we can only react to rather than control.

God has not written the future, so your future is not predetermined. It's a fact though that you are the master of your own fate.

Incidenty, the poem "Invictus" is about facing up to hardship and challenge while keeping one's dignity.

a reply to: paraphi

Really?

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

God's knowing what we will choose is a function of His omnipresence since He is in all places all the time. If He were not, He would not know what choices we were freely going to make. To deny that God is all-knowing, even of the choices we make, is to deny His omnipresence and reduce God's nature to something more like ourselves, which would be a mistake. Nevertheless, some people try and claim that God does not know what we will freely choose. But, this cannot be since it would violate the biblical teaching that God knows all things.

LINK

a reply to: shawmanfromny

If God is loving savior, then He would have predetermined everyone to be faithful Christian. But it doesn't happen. Therefore, I am inclined to believe that we are left alone to decide what's best for us. In other word, you are the master of your own fate.

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
a reply to: paraphi

Really?

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Plans for welfare. It could be He knows who your spouse, children etc beforehand. Or He knows at what age we are suppose to die and what cause.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

I think god built the hardware, an ever-changing self perpetual fractal,

Everything possible within the hardware is up to us.

how you experience it, is where free will comes into play!
Many factors influence a decision and they all have to do with the programming yourself did, it was your decision always is and will be.

To be fair we often get a certain way of analyzing certain situations ingrained as childs, and some traumatic experience we have them as babys so we aren't really in charge, often we perpetuate the same horrors we had to go through as kids, and so on. It really is hard to break free from social conditioning

The reason we are here is learning, I will give you an example of how that looked like for me.

I always suffered a lot from break-up. Again and again, I broke totally, felt like dying.
I was fed up.
I could just say that's fate easy way out.
But i realized others don't suffer that much from the same situations.
I started observing my thoughts, and emotions, and how i come to the conclusion that a break-up has to be so painful.
Then i alter the way i think, sadly the next break-up wasn't any better, so same process again, out with the old and in with the new way of thinking.

Funnily life keeps throwing the same situations at me till i found a thought process that would allow for a beneficiary interpretation of said situation.

The situation might come again but not as a challenge anymore, lesson learned, next!

I found death to be a really big challenge. Classmates run over by a truck, friends taking their lives because of a break-up, so on so forth, I was begging to learn the lesson because the pain was unbearable whenever someone loved would die, it was a reoccurring theme and i was way to Young with 20 years to be confronted with death that often...

It wasn't until 28 I got to learn the lesson, thanks to the stillborn of my daughter! This is the most painful thing that happened to me so far.

When i look back now it was a gift!
It sounds so strange but I would have never broken free of the western misconception of life and death if not for my daughter, dying the day she was born... I love you marina!

Don't get me wrong i still griev when i think about my baby girl, but it's a loving and thankful griev, not one of self-pity and injustice.

Uups I got all emotional with tears and a smiles, and everything

It often takes time to see past the pain and distortion, but if you don't blame destiny, there is something to be learned.
The more it shakes you up, the more profound the lesson to be learned is!

This approach i found very healthy, because I'm not terrified off unpleasant situations anymore, I welcome them with open arms, knowing that i will learn if
I'm the captain of my soul.

Save journey, and may the sound of silence guide you through the storms ahead.

Sincerely No Clue

originally posted by: PhilbertDezineck
a reply to: shawmanfromny

My wife was severely sexually abused by her step father as a child. Some how I dont think God set that fate in motion before she was born. That would make God the instigator of evil.

Sorry if it sounds cold, but from a non-religious perspective, it's certainly possible and fits with the folks that have zero ability to choose for themselves. How else would you explain what happens to the defenseless, or the existence of the non-communicative born that way/in vegetative/comatose states for life/after accidents and not of their own free will? If they're just here to teach lessons in those prison bodies, then a god certainly chose to set their fates that way, didn't it?

Lipstick and pigs and all here. You can't pretty up something with stipulations that don't jive with the people you want to ignore for the sake of fitting the narrative.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” –Psalm 37:4

Can you only know your fate when you meet it?

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
The quote in this thread’s title is from a poem called "Invictus," written by the English poet William Ernest Henley.

I’m a believer in God and a non-practicing Catholic and I need a little advice.

Lately, I've been thinking about the meaning of my life and have often wondered if I control my fate, or if it has already been predetermined by my Creator.

I thought, perhaps, that a few of you, who believe in God and who are more knowledgeable on this subject, could help me understand the concept of fate.

Hi Shawmanfromny, forgive my wordiness and long post, but this is a difficult subject and I'm trying my best.

I fully believe in God and I'm not a follower of any organized religion.

From my experience I've seen that one has definitely a part in the control of one's fate, but also God has His own active part in one's life too and in certain moments He intervenes and modifies one's fate, but always respecting the divine law of personal free will and for the best of His children. That is, the person is somehow aware that in certain moments another Higher Power is doing or saying whatever one is doing at that moment.

Now, please don't confuse this with mind control from God, He never does that, in fact He detests it. But it's more like nudging or offering you advice, in the form of mental images, words or feelings, and then it's up to you to act or not upon them. If you disagree with it, then God simply ceases to offer you advice for the time being and you've also made Him unhappy in the process. But He never gives up on His children.

However it's also true that if one continues to refuse His help, is stubborn or worse his/her feelings toward God turn into hatred for Him, then expect the worst from God, more than anything the Almighty hates and punishes harshly the beings that hate Him. Been there and done that, first hand experience! Please keep this in mind.

You see these things are very subtle, but very important for one to establish the truth and for one to create a strong bond with the Creator. Case in point, when I was little boy I thought that God was controlling my thoughts and other people's minds as well, and I was not happy about it. Much later in life I learned part of the truth, God helped me to understand, and more is to be learned about this very difficult and sensitive subject.

So, are we truly the “Master” of our own fate?

Yes, to a very high degree you are the driver of your life, God, while He *knows* your future, intervenes in your life, but absolutely respects personal Free Will.

If God is in fact, omnipotent, he’s then aware of what was, what is and what will be.

If this is the case, why would it be wrong of me to think that my life has already been programmed to unfold a certain way? If my fate has already been predetermined, what difference does it make that I have “free will” to make whatever choice I want?

"Predetermined" is not the right word, I'd say *pre-known* while He intermittently intervenes in yours and everybody's lives and their respective environments.

Consider this example:
You're a driver in your car, there also are other drivers on the road, and it is the highway too. Now let's say that God built the highway, which is your environment (your family, friends, your initial health condition, your place you're born in and so on).
For the sake of simplicity I'm not counting the other elements. Now, you as a driver are in control of driving good or bad, to pay attention or not, as are the other drivers on highway which you have no control over. Now God at certain points controls your driving, other people's driving and all the other elements included in the whole process of driving, all of them, down to the smallest detail, however during all this time you're the driver, you decide how to drive.

Now of course this is a crude analogy, and the truth of the matter is way more complicated, but in my opinion this is a good approximation of where you stand in the scheme of things. By the way I myself have been involved in a bad accident many years ago, am lucky to be alive. I consider this a punishment from God for something bad I did, but me and my friend were completely unharmed, the car was totaled though.

I have always believed that God gives us life, in order for us to evolve our souls and learn from our experiences here on Earth.


I believe that evil exists to tempt us to do wrong and to weaken our faith and love for our Heavenly Father.

Absolutely right, for us to evolve, learn and approach God even more, to appreciate life, relationships, to learn tolerance and surely other reasons as well unknown to me yet.
Whereas evil as a testing element for humans is just one reason and there could very well be more of them.

I've been struggling with depression for a number of years now. I've made a few choices, that have helped significantly...getting off Paxil, working out, cutting down on sugar and eating healthier, as well as praying more.

Was I meant to have depression, so that I could learn from the experience? What if I didn't make any changes to my life and ended up committing suicide? Where's the life lesson in that outcome? What role, if any, does our choices actually make if everything is suppose to play out a certain way?

Great that you're doing better with depression, I know how bad it is. Besides the healthy choices that you've made and more praying, I'd pray for a direct conversation with the Almighty, like a child talking with his father, and He will teach you a lot and heal you completely. When you're praying, do it with persistence, passion and be precise, that's how God wants it and that's when He will provide an answer. So keep at it until you get what you're asking for.

I'm not sure that your depression was meant to happen to learn from it, but it could very well be a consequence of something that you did long ago and learning from it, is just one reason. Remember when God does something, there's always way too many reasons for it to happen.
My principle is that when we suffer it's because of something bad that we have done, it doesn't matter whether we remember it or not. So when I pray I ask what it is that I've done, and I usually receive the answer.

You have two hypotheticals here, one is "if I didn't make any changes to my life" and two "... ended up committing suicide". If you didn't make any changes the outcome could have been worse, but maybe not ending life. However if that's the case (God forbid), then the life lesson is not lost, but it's taken within the soul and valid for the next incarnation. But remember God punishes strongly the souls that end their lives and the consequences are seen in the next life. Please don't even think about that.

I know that the truth is even deeper and longer than what I wrote here, so take this as a generalized approach to this problem.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Really there is just life and it is happening as it is.

There is no you separate to life..

The field is the sole governing agency of the particle. Einstein.