"We all have a purpose here. It's up to us to discover what it is."

I leaned back to catch more of the conversation. The somber cafe music gave their subject a serious tone, like they were discussing the fate of the world.

"There are a lot of people in the world," said a younger voice. "How can they all have a purpose?"

"It's beyond our comprehension to understand how everyone's fates are intertwined, but they are," answered the older voice. The speaker had a confident, yet quiet tone. He sounded almost like a college professor. "On a global scale, we're all interconnected. You might have been fated to be on a delayed flight, then catch a later taxi, causing another passenger to wait at the taxi stand, where he met the woman of his dreams and had a child who will invent a cheap alternative fuel source."

The younger man laughed. "That's too neat and packaged. Too… Hollywood. How can fate be so orderly like that?"

"Life already contains a high level of order. Even within chaos, there is highly structured order. That's classic chaos theory."

"But to think that life is that way; that we're all pre-destined to do something. Doesn't that mean we don't have free will?"

The old man laughed. "We have free will. Life, and fate, doesn't prescribe exact instructions. It only sets up a general direction. There are multiple paths you can take. They may all take you to the same destination sooner or later, but you get to choose the journey."

"But that's still not true free will."

The old man paused. I took a sip of my coffee and waited for his retort. "You could also argue that genetics and society don't give us true free will either. What's stopping you from jumping onto the table and screaming right now? It's not a socially-accepted action, that's why. And why do you have your inquisitive nature? Your parents are academics and also have an inquisitive nature. So are you exhibiting true free will right now?"

This time, the young man paused. "Okay, I can see why arguing about true free will can be a complicated discussion." He was silent again. I could almost hear his thoughts grinding in his head. "So if there is a grand plan for all of us, that means there's also a God. Do you believe in God too?"

"There is…" the old man cleared his throat. "There is a higher power that we can't comprehend. Whether it's a single entity with a distinct personality and consciousness, or just a general cosmic intelligence, I don't know. But yes, something had to have given rise to the high level of order we have in this world."

"Do you believe there's an afterlife?"

"Yes. After we pass away, our souls move on to another plane of existence, another dimension, if you will. Science has already theoretically proven that there are other dimensions. It's possible that one of these could be where souls without bodies exist."

"See, I don't know if I can believe in all that. I don't think there's a God or any kind of higher power. I think when you die, you just die."

"I see. And what about a purpose in life?"

"There is no pre-defined purpose in life. I think we can easily rationalize life to have a purpose. It's easy to look back in one's past and see correlations and relationships between various events. Human beings are great pattern matchers, after all." The young man paused and the old man sat patiently. "I think religion is just a way for people to create a purpose for their lives. And it's a great thing, don't get me wrong. But it's not the truth."

"I don't intend to change your mind right now, nor would I even want to. In fact, in my belief, there's a reason you feel this way."

"So you believe…" the young man spoke slowly, as if he was carefully choosing his words. "You believe that there's a reason for this conversation right now?"

"Yes." I could almost hear the old man smile. "Perhaps this conversation will sit in your mind and cause you to change something you're going to do, altering the course of history and bringing you closer to your fate. Or perhaps… someone else will overhear this conversation, share it with his friends, and maybe one of them will be influenced by it."

I quickly sat up. For a moment, I sat there, frozen. They changed subjects as I finished typing the last words of their conversation. Then I saved the document and decided to share it.

. . .

Do you believe in fate?