Q&A: How Monotheism Fits with Free Choice
How Monotheism Fits with Free Choice
Question
When we say the blessing “Grant peace,” we are basically asking God to program our minds to be at peace.
How did that fit for you in the past, when you believed in individual providence (that someone who prays for peace might get what he asks for), and also in free choice?
If the One enthroned on high programs the mind to be at peace, what free choice do I have?
Answer
It’s really not difficult. Like anything else, the Holy One, blessed be He, can change the relative weights in our minds and tilt them more in the direction of peace. Everyone has free choice, but with unbalanced weights. We ask Him to give us different conditions of choice. Like asking for fear of Heaven, for help in repenting, for a match, and many other things that are in our own hands.