I often tell people I believe in karma - what goes around, comes around - that there are some natural rules of justice that dictate those who have wronged us will find some just reward for their efforts. That punishment will be meted out in equal proportion to the crime - perhaps not immediately but in the fullness of time. Not surprisingly, this is a topic that comes up in Victoria where we are used to seeing flashes of bad judgement and ethical faux pas in the political domain that naturally lead one to say there must be a consequence to this - but it doesn't always work out that way.
Of course suggesting this means that in the context of my own life I have to face the uncomfortable thought that my current state is some divine comeuppance - my penance for some list of misdemeanours that came before. When you grow up in the Catholic faith, as I did, you become accustomed to tallying up your sins - it comes with the territory - as you never know when you might be thrust into the confessional to recite them from memory. So I can look at my current state and elements of my life that came before it as universal payback for the list of wrongs I keep handy or turn it round and say all of this is a cleverly disguised gift - allowing me to feel the weight of the love of people close to me and many who are not so close in the known time I have left. On any given day I find myself pondering what the karma police are saying. The jury is still out.
In my experience, some people sail through life, while others seem to have constant personal challenges thrown their way... regardless of their actions. Part of me wants to believe in the concept of karma - that nasty people are not rewarded for their behaviour. Perhaps the belief in the concept of an afterlife/reincarnation would provide me with the hope that there are checks and balances in place.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that your illness has nothing to do with karma and that there is no simple answer to how we arrived at our current reality.
I used to believe in Karma too....until my dad got sick a couple of years ago with pancreatic cancer and died. He was not only a healthy looking man and not very old. He had a nightmare childhood -- he grew up in the fifties with an alcoholic father...the police would come to the house...the kids beaten up along with my granny and my grampa (guilty) would pull out a gun and the police would run. My dad would steal his dads hotrods at twelve and when the police would pull him over...they would tell him he better get the car home -- they knew the abuse that followed...wow how things have changed. He overcame the demons and an alcohol problem himself at a young age. He was a good honest man, always packed a cross in his wallet his whole life. He worked from thirteen years old until he died...full time. We sat stunned for a whole year thinking how did this happen to dad...but I always went back to what my brother said in the room the day he died..."There are some things in life we will never have an answer for"....that saying for some reason seems to help. If Karma were true he would have lived a long long life....becky
ReplyDeleteOh Becky, I am sure this is true and it is amazing what your dad had to fight to overcome. Am sure many of his gifts live on in his beautiful daughter with the amazing heart. Love to you...
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