Are We the Masters of Our Destiny?

(Photo courtesy: Jean-Marc Arakelian)

In the wake of prevailing precarious situation in the world and the way we as humanity as a whole have been behaving on this planet, one question that has been bothering me for a while is this: "Are we masters of our destiny?"  Until recently, each one planned for himself or herself. Certainty was the truth. Permanent and perpetual growth of our economies and intellectual world seem to be a natural phenomena. But this understanding of progressive logic has not only tilted but crumbled terribly. Until other day, we thought we have answers for everything. From atheist scientists to militant so called "intellectual atheists" like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, etc., who claimed and propagated no God theory at least now will not be fascinated by their followers. 

What Corona virus has made us is to realize that nothing is stronger in front of this killer bug. Neither the white race nor black nor brown race, neither the European nor the Asian  nor the American could withstand in front of the onslaught of this Corona pandemic. If we are not careful and if we are unable to find a suitable vaccine within a stipulated time Corona destroyer has the capacity to wipe out the whole human race. We do not need nuclear wars, gas chambers or missiles or man made wars to annihilate us. Even before we could warm this planet and destroy this earth, we could be destroyed completely and unexpectedly.

As this bug continuous to mutate from one environment to another, from one person to another, migrate from human to animal, our capacity to grasp the magnanimity of this epidemic is simply ungraspable. Our ability to find a suitable medicine is not only taking time but also feeling helpless and tired. Therefore, this question: Where are we moving now in this new world order where this Corona bug is thrusting such a strain on humanity?

We are made to ask more often than ever age old  existential questions: Questions about our life, its meaning and significance, about its existence, about our futurity as a whole. Existential philosophy which tries to answer our human life questions and in a way thought to have understood that it has all the answers for our inquisitiveness, with this new world wide illness we seem to be having more questions than answers, more troubles than ever, more queries than prepared solutions. 

By his very nature, human person does not want to surrender. Being surrendered means allowing oneself to be tempted of what he is not. If one is tempted to surrender means that he is abdicating or concealing his personality to fall and disappear in the void. The existential philosopher Martin Heidegger puts it well man's littleness, finiteness, "Man wants to surrender to the world. He tempts himself. He flees from himself and desires to fall into the world. In his everyday talking and curiosity he prepares for himself a permanent temptation to fallenness." In other words, we are in a whirlwind of inescapability. Perhaps in our present scenario it could either death or lost in void on this earth what we call life.

The more you flee yourself from what you are, what you are capable of and not capable of, you are put in a void or emptiness. Because human person in himself is incapable to finding meaning. He has to hang on to something outside of him, outside of his emptiness. The eschatological message of the New Testament is this "now and not yet". Jesus would say "In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.” (Jn 16:16). The paradox of life continues. The destiny of man as the master of this world is once again threatened.
           

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

07 April 2020