Everything Happens for a Reason

We missed our train to Cape Town. 

Fortunately, we still had a free place to stay with Craig, a tech journalist. We also ended up getting invited to go with him to a movie screening at a nearby Jo'berg flat. It was a festive gathering we would have missed if we would have made it to the train station just a minute and a half earlier. 

We were lucky too to get some really cheap plane tickets through Steve, another new South African friend who directs That's Hectic!, the South African version of Sesame Street. With the plane tickets, we wound up getting to Cape Town even earlier than we would have via our original 26-hour train ride, the only difference being we got to go to a fun little party instead of sitting on a train.

As for the movie screening itself, there was an intriguing mix of people present -- an eclectic gathering of salsa dancers and intellectuals. Indeed, the hostess was one part Oxford-educated English professor, two parts salsa-dancing machine.

Out on the balcony we talked with architects, scientists, journalists, South African think tank members, and various salsa dancers. After drinks and appetizers, we watched the 1930s film, "Trouble in Paradise," a movie I likely never would have picked out myself. The movie was surprisingly charming and entertaining -- and pretty risqué for the 1930s I might say. We had home-made bread, home-made sushi, and some nice champagne.

In the end, I was glad we missed the train.

They say everything happens for a reason and I couldn't agree more. However, the phrase as it is commonly used may be one of my least favorite cliches. It seems to suggest that there is some pre-ordained divine plan, that bad events happen not because of explicable causes, but simply because "it was meant to be."

I prefer a more straightforward interpretation: most events do happen for a reason, but that reason is usually a complex set of causes, some of which may be beyond our current comprehension. As for missing the train, we just didn't give ourselves enough time.  

I think one of the hardest questions for philosophers and religions to answer is, why do bad things happen? While it's hard to give any satisfying, broad answer to the question, I think it's dangerous, irresponsible, and an insult to human free will to suggest that bad events happen because they were meant to happen as part of some larger plan we don't understand. It stifles attempts to uncover true causes, and worst of all, stifles action to prevent bad things from happening in the future.

When a young girl gets cancer, I don't like to think that it was meant to be, or that it is all part of God's plan. I like to concentrate instead on understanding the DNA mutations that may have led to it happening, on understanding how environmental toxins may or may not have played a role, on how we may not have done enough research yet to enable a cure for her, on how we could invest more money in biomedical research if we valued it, and on the fact that perhaps better healthcare may have helped her earlier on.

By thinking about causes, we are in a better position to take actions to change the course of future events with our own free will. The more we understand how negatives arise, the more we are able to agitate for positive change in the world.

Most importantly though, I think carefully analyzing causes is still fully compatible with empathy and finding meaning and purpose in life's hardest blows. The cancer patient's diagnosis may inspire her brother to become a great scientist to help girls like his sister in the future. The diagnosis might lead her mom to value every second she has not only with her sick daughter, but with her other kids and with her husband as well, helping her come to the realization that we should love as much as we can while we still can. The diagnosis may bring the whole family closer together than they ever would have otherwise been. These silver linings are what we must seek constantly in life. 

I just think it's crazy, however, to mistake the silver linings that come out of bad events for being the very reason that bad things happened in the first place. While I suppose these days most people say "everything happens for a reason" somewhat sardonically, it seems like there's still a lot of people that really believe it.

As for me, I think life wouldn't be quite as exciting if the tracks had already been laid, humans all just passengers on a train pre-made.