Our planet was brought to ruin in the belief that it was Man's destiny to conquer Nature. Maggie was startled by her vehemence. Maggie had just been admiring Erzulie's face, her dark skin refracting light from the yellow umbrella. She hadn't meant to strike a nerve. She proceeded cautiously.
Destiny is just a human construct.
As a scientists I see an order to the universe that lies outside our comprehension. What Mr. Ho calls li. But I'm not comfortable giving it a name. And what human beings call 'destiny' or 'God's Will' or 'Natural Law' is a spit in the ocean compared to that orderly flow. Erzulie made the palm-up gesture they all used to indicate the ruined world outside.