Mastering My Fate

I am the master of my fate - William Ernest Henley I once wrote a tribute to my oldest brother who passed on several years ago. The theme was based on the fact that 'he did it his way'. His work-ethics and the pursuit of his goals were an inspiration to me and other siblings. At no time did we or he think that he was the master of his fate. The journey of one tested and tried pilgrim was seldom progressive and never one of bliss, panaceas, and utopias. It was sometimes paved with trails of unpleasantness, disappointments, whining roads, and ever-extending stories of 'On the road again'. Fate mastering was not his quest, and visions of grandeur crumbled under extensive scrutiny. The ever-positive trailblazer mastered nothing but minored in many endeavors. One definition of 'Master' is one who directs, rules, or controls others. 'Fate' is a force or power that is supposed to determine the course of events. A final result; an outcome.* Oh how wonderful it would be if it were only true, but no doubt the verdict has been in since the beginning of time that no one is the Master of their Fate. No one, alone without other influences and dictates, determines or directs their grand finale. 'I' implies exclusivity, and 'My' is indicative of ownership, both of which remind me of the evil ingredients concocted by the ex-angel Lucifer before his great fall from heaven to earth.** "I am the master of my fate" is a great inspirational line for motivation and self-discipline, and it may very well take one much farther than the ordinary places and things, but left alone, me thinks that it is highly delusional. It is even so that many have risen a greater extent than others to the level of "a little lower than the angels"*** when faced and challenged with the deepest pits of despair and sorrow. And it is even more so that our great creator has made us thus, but He alone reserves the right and authority for the use of the words 'master and fate'. At some point along the way, the pilgrim came to realize that his faith dictated his master's identity in whose hand and heart his fate rested. 020420PoSpCtest, Famous Poetic Lines 2, Silent One.*The American Heritage Dictionary. **Isaiah 14:14. ***Psalms 8:3-9, Matthew Henry notes. the chosen poetic line for the contest: I Am The Master Of My Fate-William Ernest Henley.2P