"Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!"

The immortal words of John Locke, yelled at a Walkabout guide as the man walked toward a waiting bus. Locke is left sitting in his wheelchair, denied his "destiny." See, Locke believed his purpose, the greater plan of his life, was to go on Walkabout. No one else could see it happening, since he was, you know, paralyzed.

I think believing in destiny (or the more religious sounding 'predestination') takes equal parts faith and stubborness. You have to believe deeply in it, and you can't ever let doubt tear it down. In the irony of ironies- Destiny is a choice.

Locke chose to believe the unbelievable was his destiny. And, he got it, by way of crash landing on a mystical island that gave him back his legs. Which brings the question- did Locke have the right destiny in mind- a Walkabout- but just had the wrong island destination?

If we as Christians beleive in destiny as designed by God, how often do we get the broad strokes of what our destiny is right, while landing in the wrong destination? Is getting it wrong a few times part of that destiny, so we appreciate it all the more when we reach it? Of course, that supposes that our destiny we're pursuing is the end all be all of our existence.

How does God know and plan our our lives? Does He see all possible choices we make, and therefore know what all possible outcomes are? That doesn't really seem like God is all that in control to me. We are dictating His response.

Does God actively guide our lives, ever steering us toward His plan? If so, what about God's talk of freedom? Where is that? This idea makes it seem we have no choice whether or not to love God- we are simply automatons following, without conviction or devotion, our orders.

The irony of "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!" is that John Locke was choosing which destiny to believe. Had something told him what his destiny was, or was he just choosing a destiny that would make him feel whole? If our destiny was to be trapped in a wheelchair, or a bad job, or in a boring day-to-day, wouldn't we want a destiny that called out "You are more than this!"

That's really the hope of believing in destiny- that we are more than this current state. That there is a great calling on our lives. Just the other day, my friend Jeff posted this on Facebook: "If we are not shooting for the ideal, we are settling for mediocrity." Belief in destiny is our crying out, in the midst of mediocrity, for the ideal. To believe in destiny is to believe that there is a greater option out there.

To believe in destiny is to believe in the possibility of a better you.