Happenstance

"Sometimes things just happen." One of the most generic quotes ever to be spoken by a member of the human race. It's a multi-layered phrase with so many meanings it's impossible to make perfect sense out of it. For example, what's your definition of "sometimes"? In this particular situation, do things just "happen"? Or always? Is it karma, fate, destiny, or any deity of your choice controlling the "happen"?

I don't necessarily believe in God, but I do believe in karma and fate. I have a sort of mish-mosh of spirituality rolling around in my head. I know it sounds silly, but most of my thoughts on religion and spiritualistic ideas thereof come from reading Terry Pratchett. His ideas just... make sense. I love the idea of many gods, and then one Creator who sat back and let the world run, ala the Deists during the Enlightenment. I especially love the idea of many parallel universes that influence each other, many worlds spinning through space, the Trousers of Time, and the idea that magic exists everywhere. You just have to find it.

Perhaps if there was more magic in the world, the world would become an easier, softer, more peaceful place. I'm not talking magic in the Harry Potter sense, though that would be awesome. I'm more interested in magic as in the kind of wonder and respect you have for the world when you're looking at a super tall mountain range, or an exquisite sunset, or an untouched swathe of ancient forest. If we felt like that for each and every human being, and respected them as something as unique and fleeting as a sunset, as a completely real and individual person, then maybe we could learn peace. Instead of viewing other people's ideas and feelings as barriers, we should see them as a springboard for a mixing and collaboration of ideals to further a common goal.

Think even bigger: what if we thought of our world as a tiny particle in a giant universe? What if we respected it as a unique individual, indispensably part of our lives, the source of our life itself? Imagine a world, but not a round, spherical one. Imagine a flat world, on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant turtle. Wouldn't it be amazing if a place like that coexisted with our own reality? If we open our minds to the possibilities, anything is possible.