In this themed issue, spirit-teacher Joseph illuminates the various kinds of fate that can befall human beings in the course of life. There are God-willed fates as well as fates that are self-inflicted and not God willed. There are fates of individuals, families, groups, and nations.

A God-willed fate means that the person concerned has something to pay off from a debt incurred during a previous earthly life. Such a fate can be very hard. But there is much a person can do to soften this God-willed fate, perhaps to dissolve it entirely, insofar as they gain the consideration of God’s grace through an attitude and way of life that lead them to grace and mercy.

Should a person be struck by a fate that is not God willed, then they will either have imposed it upon themselves by their own irresponsible thought and action, or it will have been inflicted upon them through the carelessness, through the fault of a fellow human being. Even in such cases, fate becomes a test: are they able to accept it, or do they complain about it?