Reading Kafka on the Shore

After a long long wait, one of my favourite authors Haruki Murakami finally released his latest books (I still got to wait for a translator to translate his book) - Kafka on the Shore.

I'm enthralled, absorbed and totally into this book. Here's an observation written by Murakami which I liked alot on FATE.

"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing direction. You change direction, but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew infrom far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverised bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine." - Kafka on the Shore / Haruki Murakami

As a Christian, I don't subscribe to the word "Fate", just as I don't subscribe to the word "Luck". But for common understanding, most people know what "fate" and "luck" means, hence sometimes I use these words for non-Christians. To me as a Christian, "fate" = God's plan for my life; "luck" = God's grace and goodness to me.

I like Murakami's description of "fate" or to me, "God's plan for my life". We all have a right to choose how to live, but in the end, following God's plan is the best way. Resisting will only stress oneself out, but accepting in peace and going with His flow makes life so much happier and meaningful. No one can say for sure that the life choices they choose today will result in a better future. Example, I don't think anyone can say for sure that if I choose X position over Y position in my job now, I will definitely be better off in the future. People experience "ups and downs" in life all the time, what may look like a good position now may not be the same in the future. We are talking about an ever changing world, economy and organizations right now - who can know for sure?

In all these uncertainties, I find security in knowing that God knows the future and assurance of His goodness causes me to have unwavering trust in Him and take leaps of faith to step out of my comfort zone and do whatever I believe He has laid in my path.