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Mo ti gba kamu that, there but for the grace of God...
That's what I learnt from 2012 and the motto I intend to take into 2013.
For the non-yoruba's 'mo ti gba kamu' means either the simple 'I have accepted' or the deeper 'I have accepted my fate without arguing or fighting against it'.
So on this last day of 2012, I raise my hands up to the heavens and proclaim to the world that, from now onwards I shall accept without hesitation the whims and fancies of fate.
How do I reconcile that with my belief expressed earlier in the year that we humans to an extent have free will, as opposed to being at the mercy of destiny and operating under the illusion of free will?
I don't think I need to. Hear me out -
Everyday we face situations where choices have to be made and decisions have to be taken; we have been equipped with the ability to make a choice, the consequences of which we must live with....that's free will.
But...
Sometimes we face situations where we lack control, where the choice and the decision are out of our hands but despite that, we will still have to live with whatever consequence may arise from that situation.
Or it may be that despite using our free will to make a decision, and despite making the only viable decision any reasonable person faced with the same set of circumstances may have made, and despite rightly considering every possible foreseeable consequence of that decision; the gods allow the happening of some other conclusion, neither foreseen nor contemplated....and we will have no choice but to live with it.
And that is the point where we have to 'gba kamu'. Accept the hands of fate and deal.
I have realised that it is usually with this latter situation, where we lack control, that those of us who believe, begin to seek the mercies of God. We cry, we plead, we barter, we beg. We hold on tightly to our faith and our belief that God is love. He loves us and will let all things work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28). But see here's the thing - who knows the workings of the mind of God. Who knows the reasonings behind his acts. Why do we presume that we can control him or that what we want for us is what he wants.
We are at his whims, it is by his grace, and life would be so much easier if we simply lived it making the best decisions within our ability, and accepting whatever consequence may arise as a result of the decisions made...and where we lack control to even make a decision, again simply accept and try to deal with whatever situation we may find ourselves in.
Simply gba kamu that, there but for the grace of God or the whims of the fates.
Title is from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and translated means O Fortune, like the moon, ever changing.
Happy New Year in advance to everybody, may the hands of fate be kind to us in 2013, may the grace of God be with us and be favourable to us through the year.
God bless xx
