Note: This paper was written basically with my eyes closed. We were tasked with reading a book picking a part and just write whatever comes to our mind. Even if it is random thoughts that don’t make sense. We were not supposed to edit our paper in anyway. Here is what came out of my mind in the span of about five minutes.

I and Thou Free Write 

Writing for Ministry 

October 20, 2015 

Reading through Buber’s writing was difficult to say the least, as a person who is not a stout reader I found that I had to go back several times and reread what I just read. One concept did stick out to me and that was when Buber spoke of Destiny and freedom are solemnly promised (page 53). Irony as I see the page number is that is also my favorite number, back on track though. Buber stated that only a man who makes freedom real to himself meets destiny.

This concept is bewildering to me, I find myself pondering the true meaning of what he is trying to say. Is he saying that by really feeling free of all things then our destiny can be met? I feel a deep religious undertone to this statement. How many of us are truly free of the bondage that we carry the pains in our lives? What if we got from underneath all of that bondage all of those pains, hurts and hang ups and truly put all of our faith in God would we then experience freedom? If having this freedom or the full faith in God in all things can we then meet our destiny? What is destiny in this context? Reading on Buber makes a comment that freedom and destiny are linked together in meaning. Which confounds my thought process even more, so if they are linked together how can one be reliant on the other? How can destiny only be found when true freedom is achieved. Under this notion that they are linked would not the inverse also be correct that only freedom can be obtained when we find out destiny?

Earlier Buber spoke of the devil as one who did not decide against God but one who, in eternity, came to no decision. This makes me think that the devil never found his freedom as he was unable to grasp it, so therefore his destiny was met but not the destiny he may have choose. I am struggling with this word destiny, isn’t everything destined? How can we have destiny only with freedom, would we not still have destiny without freedom? Maybe the only way to get our destiny that we desire is to have the true freedom, otherwise our destiny may be not what we wanted such as in the devil.

This is starting to come together now in my mind, freedom from sin is through Christ Jesus, which seals our destiny to one that is desired, but by not accepting Christ we cannot experience true freedom therefore our destiny is that of the devil. We are undecided if we do not accept Christ just as the devil. So perhaps in all of this we are all the devil until we take that step and accept Christ in the first place and make that decision. The decision to be truly free that will lead to everlasting life a worthy destiny that we all long for.