μοίρα, fatum, fate

I’ve been thinking more and more about life and wondering if there is a pattern or system to live. Some ordered system that controls everything. And, how coincidental are coincidences? Do things happen for a reason? Is that reason already plotted out somewhere in the universe? Are we driven by ourselves or an outside force? How much power over our decisions and lives do we really possess?

About two years ago I was driving through town and decided, hey, I should really go get my medicine from Walgreens, but instead of going through the drive thru, which I normally do, I decided to go in. I walked up to the counter and said my name, “Matthew Ward.” The pharmacist said, “Oh, yes, you just called, give me just a second to pull the medicine.” I thought, Just called? I didn’t think four days ago was “just called,” but what did it matter? While standing there a guy walks up. There is suddenly an awkward confusion as his name is also Matthew Ward and he was the one who had called to pick up his medicine. So, she asks for middle names, mine is David. His was Davis. Exact same name, one letter difference. We were also both the same age.

This threw me for a moment. What are the odds of this? Of us both (Matthew David Ward and Matthew Davis Ward) showing up at Walgreens at the same time of day to pick up our meds. I had gotten my call four days ago to pick my medicine up, but I delayed. Nothing was making me pick up my medicine at that day or time. Nothing decided I had to go inside. Yet, there I was.

I know these type of things happen to all of us, and maybe that’s the point. We barely avoid a car accident, or we are late for work at the World Trade Center on September 11, or we miss our plane that crashes. Is there some type of “destiny” in life… some force that guides everything. There are many scientists who say there is the same mathematic equation in everything that exists. So, perhaps life is not just random events guided by us. Maybe life is already calculated out. Maybe the coincidences we experience in life are not coincidences. Maybe we do have some amount of control over our lives and can make decisions which just lead us to another decision where we have basically two roads to pick from, but maybe those roads are already plotted.