Early morning, September 11th: a man is about to go to a company training seminar at the World Trade Center in New York, when the phone rings. It's his boss, telling him that his permission to attend the seminar is cancelled because there's too much work backed up in the office. The man mutters a few choice words about this sudden change of plans, but instead of travelling to the World Trade Center he goes to work in the office a few blocks away. Today, he lives. His colleagues who attended the seminar died.
Stories like this have abounded in the last few weeks. They underline the unpredictability of life. Human beings have the knowledge to change the course of rivers, travel into space and manipulate the genetic material of plants and animals. But none of us knows with any certainty what will happen in to us five minutes time. And we all long for some sort of certainty.
This desire to overcome the uncertainty and unpredictability in life has been the motivation behind a great deal of religious activity throughout history. If the future is in the hands of the gods, then the gods must be persuaded to make a future favourable to their followers, or at least be manipulated into revealing the future in advance, so that people can be prepared.
For some, the gods are divine beings, each with their own prescribed method of being won over. This one likes long prayers and chants, that one prefers a sacrifice of some sort. Those who have the ear of the gods and pass on their messages are revered as prophets and seers.
Others prefer to talk about more impersonal concepts like "luck" or "fate" or "karma". But the desire to predict and manipulate the future is the same. There is a huge interest in our own society in astrology and fortune telling. The whimsical half-page guide to "your stars", once tucked away near the back of women's magazines, has become three or four full pages of astrological predictions, clairvoyant "advice" and tarot card readings. Nostradamus could hardly have predicted his own popularity in the twenty-first century.
Those who scorn such predictions as nonsense are still careful to ensure that they have the best odds on the future. Feng shui is big business. So is the insurance industry. A surprisingly large number of people who take out insurance do so in the misguided belief that they are somehow reducing their risk of future disaster. ("It can't happen to me, I'm insured.") Some insurance sellers encourage this belief, or even believe it themselves.
Lucky charms, such as the angels that appeared on sale everywhere not long ago, are commercially promoted. But many people have their own personal charms which they feel obliged to carry with them in order to be safe - a pen their father gave them, a coin they found on a special occasion, a picture of a loved one. They may not recognise them as "lucky charms", but they feel strangely insecure without them.
Superstition is everywhere. While most people laugh off traditional superstitions such as not walking under ladders, individuals and groups often have their own subtle superstitions. Things have to be done in a certain way, certain places or situations have to be avoided, in order to avert some unnamed calamity. The belief that bad things happen in threes is also widespread -perpetuated by the fact that people looking for the third mishap will sooner or later be rewarded in their search.
Another popular way of trying to manipulate and ensure a better future is through gambling. Whether it involves buying a scratchie on the weekend or trading futures on the stock exchange, gambling holds out the hope that luck will be on our side and bless us with the means to buy future happiness. In 1997-98, Australians lost an average of $822 per head on gambling. (This figure excludes raffles, sweepstakes and the like, as well as stock-market losses.) Greed adds its appeal to that of luck when it comes to gambling, and sadly, the gambling industry is aided by governments in their promotion of this form of "entertainment".
Some Christians have their own (unscriptural) ways of dealing with "fate". There are those who become fatalistic, accepting whatever comes as "the will of God" or "the cross I have to bear". Out of a misguided fear of offending God, they never question what is happening to them, or try to bring about change. They confuse trust with resignation.
Omen hunters, on the other hand, look for "signs from God" in every little event and turn of their day. Without the right sign, they become unable to move forwards, fearful of getting it wrong. Sometimes, of course, God does direct us by indicating that a particular event is significant. But most of the time he expects us to be directed by his word in scripture, by the Holy Spirit working through our minds and hearts, and by common sense.
Others want God to reveal the future to them by laying out some sort of detailed life plan for them. Both omen hunters and life planners fail to see that as Christians they are called to walk in faith and trust. God reveals to us what we need to know, and promises to be there with us in the unknown future. The fear that we may somehow lose God's love and protection by misjudging his plans for us goes against the whole thrust of his word.
There are some things in this world that are (almost) inevitable - heavy objects fall towards the earth, paper burns in a flame. Some things are open to human influence. We can make things happen, by our own efforts. Other events are predictable in a mathematical sense. If you toss a coin a hundred times, it's likely to come up heads half the time. Creation obeys the laws of chance in the same way that it obeys the laws of gravity and thermodynamics, as part of the way God intended it to be. Such "predictions" are morally neutral.
However, any attempt to predict or influence the future through "luck", "fate" or some other power is idolatry. As Christians we believe that it is God who determines and controls the future. Through prayer we can express our hopes and desires, and even, by God's grace, play a part in influencing the future. But God cannot be manipulated by our prayers or actions. There is no formula for hitting the jackpot of God's generosity, no technique for persuading him to reveal tomorrow's events.
Unlike the prophets of other gods, God's prophets are not forecasters. They come to warn people of what will happen if they don't change their ways. Although the Bible does contain prophecies about the future, it isn't given in a way that would be useful to an insider trader. It's there to warn the unrepentant sinner and reassure God's people that in the end, no matter how bad things seem, God is in control.
But if God is in control, does that mean that God decided who would be in the WTC when it collapsed? Yes, in the sense that he knew who would be inside, and clearly did not prevent them from being there. No, in the sense that they each decided of their own free will to be there that morning, and became victims of their own and other people's decisions. There is a mystery in the interplay of God's will, our choices and the impartial (God-created) rules of chance which we do not understand.
What we do understand is that God does not play games with us. He doesn't indifferently toss events and people's lives about in some cosmic roulette wheel. He loves us passionately and is vitally involved in everything that happens to us. Nothing happens which is outside God's knowledge and purpose. When Jesus died on the cross, it was not an unlucky end to a short life, but the fulfillment of an eternal plan to bring all creation to God. The life we have through Christ is part of that plan. Our human life is unpredictable and uncertain, but our future in Christ is already laid out for us in God's word, certain and sublime.
Stella Budrikis