“Everything Happens for a Reason.”
Does that quote indicate a belief in Fate? Consider the following scenarios.
- Jay causes a traffic accident that severely wounds another driver and her child but spares Jay any injury and barely even damages his car. He is however arrested on suspicion of recklessness following an investigation of the accident scene. After a night in jail, Jay has to face his father, Zed, who has come to bail him out. Before he agrees to pay, Zed asks his son for an explanation. “Everything happens for a reason, son,” he says to Jay.
- Kay lies in her hospital bed clinging to life. She had been drinking heavily the night of the accident, while driving her daughter home. Deeply shamed by her behavior and buoyed by the outpouring of love and concern from her friends who visit her bedside, Kay reconnects with her life and family and resolves to quit her irresponsible behavior. Suffering intense pain from her injuries, she nevertheless tells her friend, “Everything happens for a reason.”
- Jay has no contact with Kay during her hospitalization, but the death of Kay’s daughter fills him with guilt and remorse. He sees the accident as an indictment of his recklessness but senses the hand of God at work in sparing him. He doesn’t change his behavior in any way, but ever after believes that whatever occurs in his life is God’s will, over which he has no control and for which he has no responsibility. “Everything happens for a reason,” is how he describes the human condition.
- Zed regrets having raised a son as irresponsible as Jay and resolves to do a better job with his daughter Dee. Together they form an organization called Teens at the Scene that promotes safe teenage driving, accident prevention, and emergency responsiveness. After years of labor, they take the group national, score big, and become very influential, as well as rich. Zed proposes a toast to their good fortune, but Dee replies, “This was no accident; everything happens for a reason, Dad.”
Exercise
Regarding the four declarations that “everything happens for a reason,” in a Reply below,
- Number your answers 1-4.
- Identify which of the four declarations are expressions of a belief in fate.
- For those that are not, describe what they do declare.
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
While reading this I had the revelation that “Everything happens for a reason” could mean different things to different people. Although I mostly hear it in hippie, religious, a spiritual circles, it is conceivable that it could also be said by a man of science, such as when rationalizing in a “haunted house situation” situation for example.
1.) I believe this usage of “Everything happens for a reason.” (EHFAR) to be more along the literal lines of explanation, seeking to understand the events of the night in chronological order. Not so much in the spiritual way or way of trying to assign meaning.
2.) This usage of EHFAR seems to be more interested in examining meaning or finding a silver lining to the incident. Clearly the meaning being implied is now a newfound closeness to family and friends, as well as a resolve to stop drinking to improve her life. This is in the “fate” or “grand plan” group.
3.) This one quite explicitly states “god’s will”. That is about self-evident as you can get to applying meaning to one’s life over events. This is in the “fate” or “grand plan” group.
4.) Once again, the invocation of EHFAR be Dee here is of implying a better future, or that some grand plan or fate is at work to improve their lives; specifically, the Teens on the Scene. Zed toasts to good fortune (AKA good luck), while Dee argues this is not luck but fate (AKA the luck vs fate debate), and it is some grater power at work to improve their lives.
1.This scenario shows how the father is concerned about his sons personal habits and believes that Jay didn’t just cause the crash on his own merits. The father knows what may cause a crash and could be very well versed into what his son is up to on a daily basis. This shows a strong sense of belief that an accident of sometime was bound to happen and the father would be ready when it did considering his interest on how the crash occurred.
2.This shows a very wake up to reality type of moment for the phrase “everything happens for a reason”. Kay waking up in the hospital bed next to her friends after the death of her daughter and knowing it was her own fault. It wakes Kay up in a bad way that what type of person she is, a drunken mess that never thinks before she acts. But the fact that she realizes her mistakes is a trophy in of itself. Realizing you have a problem is one step into fixing it.
3.This shows a very spiritual belief in the phrase as if its all in a religious figures guiding hand that the crash happened and that what occurred afterwards was his plan. As much as Jay understands how terrible it may sound, he believes and trusts in his god to have it be apart of his plan.
4.This shows the prevention of the phrase as the father, prepares his daughter to not experience the same type of accident that occurred with her brother. Even making a foundation out of the very issue is a show of wanting to twist the Phrase “Everything happens for a reason”. A very sentiment way for wanting to manipulate fate to serve those who wish to continuing seeing the ones they love.
Zed’s statement to Jay – This is an expression of belief in fate. Zed suggests that the accident and consequences were part of a larger reason, implying that events are beyond human control and have predetermined purposes.
Kay’s statement in the hospital – This does not express belief in fate. Instead, Kay’s declaration reflects personal growth and learning. She interprets the accident as an opportunity for self-reflection and a reason to change her life, indicating that she sees meaning rather than fate.
Jay’s belief after the accident – This is an expression of belief in fate. Jay believes that everything in his life is God’s will, implying a lack of personal agency or accountability, as though his actions and their consequences are beyond his control.
Dee’s statement to Zed – This does not express belief in fate. Dee’s declaration implies that their success was intentional and due to their own actions. She believes that hard work and purpose led to their outcome, rather than an inevitable, fated path.
1) This is not a belief in fate. Zed is declaring that his son’s actions played a role in what happened.
2) This is not a belief in fate. Kay is declaring that choices have consequences.
3) This is a belief in fate. Jay takes no responsibility for his actions.
4) This is not a belief in fate. Dee is declaring that everything that happened is a result of their hard work and dedication.
1 – I would say that this doesn’t show Fate being implied. The father asks his son specifically why he got into an accident, rather than stating that this was going to happen no matter what, as this was some pre-determined event destined to occur.
2 – I find that this is Fate. Substance abuse, driving with her daughter, and it seemingly a prevalent problem most likely caused this to happen. It’s an event that was fated to occur because of her actions previously, it was destined to happen eventually with the path she was following.
3 – I find this is not fate. Jay himself sees the event as something of Divine decree, yet he does nothing to change besides continuing on with his life. He gains no epiphany besides his lack thereof any responsibility or guilt in his life, a dangerous prospect to be sure. Perhaps this may be fate at play to then cause something else to happen in the future.
4 – I find this an expression of fate, especially since at the very end the daughter decides to declare that “everything happens for a reason.”, with this implying that it was an event fated to occur because of previous actions taken before that event.
1)This paragraph is a show of fate as Jay was left unscathed meanwhile others were injured. More obviously, his fathers claims “everything happens for a reason”.
2)Not a show of fate, as she’s taking responsibility of her actions and shortcomings. From this, she is making the conscious choice to change.
3)This would be a show of fate as Jay comments that god is sparing him, that god knows the way. In which case he is taking the fault from himself and placing it on a fateful figure.
4)Not a show of fate as both the daughter and the father worked hard to make their organization what is was. They both know the hard work put into what they’ve made, and it was not simply due to fate.
Everything happens for a reason.” The son’s accident didn’t kill him or the other drivers so maybe he chose those words to have his son understand that his accident happened for a reason and he is alive for a reason.