As my usual sources of inspiration for this regular blog column turn their watchful gaze to important questions (like Which Religion Picks The Best Stocks, Is It OK to Pray for Your 401(k) and Should we blame God for the Subprime Mess?), I turn my attention slightly further a field. Although what I write about here should have implications for at least the last of these questions.

Bob Thompson, talking to novelist Marilynne Robinson for the Washington Post, writes:

In Christian theology, predestination is the idea — not universally accepted — that God has foreordained all human fates, including damnation and salvation. The obvious problem with it is that it undermines the concept of free will. But “the problem with any other construct,” as Robinson explains, “is that it limits the power of God.”

As far as theological and philosophical dilemmas go, the battle between the concepts of free will and predestination is an epic one. In the same way that we might wonder why bad things happen to good people, we might also wonder to what extent people (‘good’ or ‘bad’) are responsible for their actions and life experience. If, as William Shakespeare suggested, ‘All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players’ to what extent are we scripted? Or is this piece of global theatre-play entirely improvised? Something akin to theatre sports, perhaps?

I mean I didn’t write this column (yes, I don’t care if it’s a blog entry it is my will – perhaps God’s? – to think of Sensational Sabbath as a column) this time last week. I took the week off from blogging entirely. Was that something that John Lacey, the human being and blogger, decided then and there? Or was it decided by some external force, recorded dutifully in some akashic records ages before I appeared here?

And if it is true… is there any point turning up to vote? I mean whatever happens next in America will be God’s will, won’t it? Does that mean he is responsible for George W. Bush? Should I insert the obligatory “mysterious ways” defense here?

It is a real can of worms. What is the purpose of prayer if predestination is the active mechanism of the world? Is it as Betty Bowers explains…

“Prayer’s really just telling God, ‘the divine plan you have for me is flawed, and shockingly stingy’. Which would make saying a prayer the universe’s most popular placebo.”

It probably won’t shock you to know I do not have the answer to the dilemma posed above. It is my expectation that there is an element of free will to the activities of humanity; either that or God (or whomever, or whatever) must have a delicious sense of humour to have permitted me to blog like this for as long as I have.

The Good News, here, is that it is unproved – and I imagine unprovable! So the next time someone accuses you of forgetting to put out the garbage assure them you haven’t forgotten, rather it just didn’t factor into your destiny.

Happy Sunday!