REASON VS. PURPOSE

Most of us have heard or may have even used the phrase "Everything happens for a reason."
Usually the line is recited in reaction to a negative event like an auto accident, serious illness or a sudden financial setback.

On one level the phrase certainly is true. Everything does happen for a reason. If I'm sitting in my car at a redlight and my car gets rear ended by another driver, there was clearly a reason for the accident. The driver may have been drunk, distracted by a cellphone, or the car may have had bad breaks. If I slip on ice and incur a concussion, the reason may have been snow covering the ice.

The point is, everything happens for a reason. But that is really not the intent or meaning behind the phrase "Everything happens for a reason." Here is where semantics comes into play. What people really mean to say is "Everything happens for a purpose."  That is to say, there is some ulterior motive or plan behind every occurrence. It doesn't happen haphazardly. It implies that a higher power is manipulating events to create a specific outcome.There is a wizard hiding behind the curtain who manipulates every aspect of our lives, like a chess player moving pieces around the board to produce a certain outcome.

Herein lies the emotional struggle for people who are dealing with a crisis in their lives, particularly if it involves the death of a loved one. I recall several years ago speaking with a friend who had a two year old nephew that was killed in an auto accident.Needless to say she was distraught  over the untimely death.But not only was she distraught,she was also angry and confused. Why? Because she didn't view the accident as a random event. Rather, she saw it as a deliberately staged event by a higher power for purposes unknown. She raged against God, baffled as to why He would allow an innocent child to die such a brutal death at such a young age. "Why would God want to take the life of such a beautiful child?" she railed. "Why? It doesn't make sense!"

She was right. It doesn't make any sense if you're searching for a purpose, a meaning to the death. The reason for the accident was a drunk driver who ran a stoplight. If you accept it at face value, yes, you're deeply shocked and saddened, and perhaps angry with the drunk driver. But there it ends. No confusion. The facts of the accident are clear and indisputable.

It is only when you believe a higher power pulls our strings as if we were mere puppets that the bewilderment grows and seethes in the heart and mind.

Things happen simply because things happen. There is a reason behind why they happen, but there is no blueprint or grand design behind why random events occur as they do. It is like the flip of a coin. It can only come up heads or tails. Why? Because those are the only two possibilities. There is no specific reason why one side comes up over the other.

It is only when one eliminates the supernatural from one's belief system that you can truly come to grips with reality and gain a fuller understanding of life's vicissitudes.

Things happen. It is the unbendable law of the universe.