Lately I have been wading through the Decameron, a collection of 100 stories by Boccaccio, written in 1350. Throughout the book the storytellers refer to "fickle Fortune" and "Fate, in his eternal whimsy" as a personage, or a god-like force that intervenes in our daily lives at his or her discretion. Not to tread on anyone's religious toes, but this story about a guy who wrecked his jeep and was thrown into telephone wires and saved strikes me as similar. He really believes "God" reached out his hand and delivered him into the safety of the electrical wires. I am, of course, happy that this fellow survived the experience, but it fascinates me how when the inexplicable occurs, we feel the need to assign responsibility. "God" has now replaced "Fate." Is there a difference? Is there any evidence that "God's" behavior is any different than "Fortune's"? An interesting inquiry certainly left to others better qualified than I.