‘Do you believe in destiny?’, the old man asked. It was on a quiet evening. The sky has perhaps overfed itself that evening. The loud noises from its stomach suggested to everyone in the town that it is about to rain cats and dogs. Unfortunately, or shall I say, fortunately? I got caught up in the rain and I had to find shelter at an abandoned uncompleted building.
Rumors have it that the children of the owner refused to complete the house after he died. Perhaps, it’s a good thing they didn’t complete the building. The kids around the street have made the building a perfect spot for hide and seek.
I pondered on the question the old man asked. I had met him also at the front of the abandoned house. ‘Yes, I do', I responded. To be honest, I was scared at first. That was a strange question from an old man, especially from the part of the world I am in. The old man smiled and asked again, ‘do you believe in human free will?’ Again, I responded affirmatively.
The old man left a smile on his face. It was as if he had got me exactly where he wanted. Again, he asked, ‘why do you believe in free will?’ Who doesn’t believe in free will? Especially in this modern world! Perhaps, he needed me to educate him on the trends of the new world.
‘Every man is born with a mind of his own', I started. ‘Every day, we are presented with options to choose from. Our actions have consequences. We as humans choose to be good or bad. We are free to make our choices and decisions.‘
‘Is that you believe?’, the old man asked. He had a smile on his face. It was as if he had been dying to have the conversation with someone. ‘Yes, I do believe that. It was within my free will that I responded to your question in the first place’, I responded. ‘You are indeed right’, said the old man.
Just when I was about to celebrate in my head that I had won an argument with an old man, I heard him again. ‘You see, my son, this is the problem. Free will cannot exist if there is destiny and destiny cannot exist if there is free will.’
What is this man driving at? ‘If a man is destined to be great, that would mean all his choices would have been foreseen by the powers beyond the ordinary. And if a man is destined to be nothing, all his decisions will be one that will lead to him becoming nothing’, the old man added. He looked at my confused face and smiled warmly again.
‘If truly there is destiny then that would mean we all have destinies and we are all actors playing our given roles. The free will we thought we have would be an illusion. The world will be a video game to the powers beyond. Then, the killers, the wicked, the robbers and everyone we detest are just playing their roles’, the old man continued.
‘But no one is born evil’, I said. ‘True. No one is born evil, neither is no one born good.’ I pondered on his response and was forced to ask, ‘what is your stance? Do you believe there is nothing like destiny or do you believe that there is nothing like free will?
‘That is a question I cannot answer. If there is indeed destiny, then this world is a cheat. A programmed video by the powers beyond. An irrelevance existence that brings pain to those who are not in the good books of destiny’, the old man said.
‘Alright then. If I agree that there is no destiny, then what about free will?’
The sky had finished raining. Though, we could still hear its stomach growling. The sky had definitely overfed itself. Who could blame it? The rain was long due for 2 months in its period. The town was becoming worried like a lady who is a week late to see her monthly visitor.
‘If destiny does not exist and free will is what we have, then most of history is nothing but a lie. It would mean humans are capable of doing extremely good things and extremely wicked things. It would mean we are the beginning, the climax, and the resolution of our problems. And most importantly, free will ought to be taken away by the powers beyond. It is causing more havoc than good’. The old man replied, preparing to leave with the two old bags he had brought in when the rain started.
‘My son, that’s all I have to say for now. We shall meet again, I know it. But for now, I have to go and feed my chickens at home. But note this Oluwatobi, all is nothing but an illusion that will be snatched from you one day. The old man took his bags and left.
I was confused and left speechless. Is life indeed a video game and we are all actors playing our roles? Or is this old man just ranting about how life has been unfair to him? Either way, his words were quite heavy in my heart.
Hold on, did he just call me ‘Oluwatobi’? I never told him my name!
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