Religious mumbo jumbo

I believe in fate. I have to. I need to believe there’s a force keeping me sane, offering me hope that life is more exciting than the t.v. remote control. To believe there’s a purpose to my life and all our lives, but it’s not down to us to figure it out – that’s just too daunting. Instead there is a force loving us enough to give the life we didn’t know we wanted but is actually better than any life-plan we had created in our daydreams.
A friend of my mother’s talked about this but instead of using the word fate or the force of the universe, she used God. Leave our life in his hands and his plans will offer a sweeter life than any dream. I was eighteen at the time. But before I could politely nod my ‘ah yeah thanks,’ she continued with:
‘Be warned, the devil walks amongst us, he’s here to ruin God’s plan.’
Whether we use God or fate to explain our life journey, the idea the devil being a counter force neatly explains why sometimes our life takes a cruel turn.
The excerpt I have chosen to begin my blog coincides with the beginning of the book. It was influenced by my mum’s friend whom I had summarily dismissed as crazy religious woman. But as I’ve grown her words sit in my brain and refuse to budge. So here it is, the first paragraph from Olivia:

“The devil walks amongst us. You can’t see, hear or smell him but
you can sense his presence and when you do, run.”
Aunt Olive said this to me twenty years ago when I was fifteen.
At the time I just thought she was nuts so I replied with a nod
and continued with X-box.
I hadn’t thought about what she’d said until the day I heard my
uncle’s name on the 10 O’clock news.”

The news brings sad stories of world destruction so the idea of fate bringing happy outcomes seems planted by Disney. But this is all we have to hold onto; we need to hope life is on a slow upward spiral to better times or is this too simplistic? Maybe we should just get real and plan for a better future ourselves and not leave it to God or fate or the universe?. What do you think?