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THE EDITOR: On Saturday at Westminster Abbey, London, King Charles III will be coronated. Incorporated into the throne on which he will be seated is a stone called the Stone of Destiny, Stone of Scone or Jacob’s Pillow Stone. There are many stories associated with the stone but the purpose for which I write has to do with whether there is divine destiny or simply people determined to ensure a certain outcome in life.
Very often we hear people say this or that was God’s will. But one can conclude that it is man that determines what is the result in many circumstances and not a divine being. Take for example Jacob. Here is a person who is seen by many as the father of the nation of Israel, having his name changed to Israel after a night of wrestling with a supreme being. But his elevation to be given the birth right that was handed down from Abraham was gotten through subterfuge. He tricked his father into giving him this right that was supposed to go to his elder brother. Yet there was no divine intervention to say trickery was immoral.
As the world watches the coronation of the new king, it shouldn’t be lost on many that this great kingdom was built on a history of inhumane colonisation, plundering of other nations' wealth, slavery and indentureship. None of these are examples of nobility, justice, honesty, fairness and certainly not within the accepted norms of holiness and good Christian living. The question therefore remains: destiny or determination?
When one considers that great nations like the US that developed economically through a cruel history of slavery and racial segregation and the many other European nations that today boast of integrity and human rights but also grew from an ugly history of human exploitation and war, one can be led to question the role of divinity in the affairs of man.
As we see in the war in Ukraine and the fighting in Sudan, opposing sides are seeking some divine intervention and claiming the higher ground of morality. One can, therefore, be led to conclude that it is the determined, stronger person who succeeds and that destiny is what one is prepared to work for, and not what one is given through divine intervention.
It will be interesting to note the spiritual practices as the coronation ceremony gets going and to determine whether it is man blessing and empowering a monarch or destiny being bestowed upon one by a divine being.

STEVE ALVAREZ

via e-mail
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