My World With Words

Recently, there was a Word Press prompt I missed that I wanted to respond to. The prompt was, “Do you believe in karma?” I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this one. As a religious belief, the answer it no. But in a more casual fashion, what do I believe?

I’ve heard a lot of people say “what goes around, comes around.” And I’ve seen evidence of that in my own life. People who were unkind to others got their comeuppance at some point, that sort of thing. But I’ve also seen a lot of bad behavior go unpunished. Politically, I see a ton of that all around me. Hardly a day goes by that something doesn’t happen that makes me sick to my stomach.

I believe God is in control, no matter how chaotic life seems to us on earth. I believe he will punish evildoers. It may not happen during their time on this earth, but eventually, we all have to go before God.

In the past, I have struggled with the Bible verse that says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV) I believe I love God, but things have happened to me where I fail to see the good in them, even years later when you’d think I’d have some perspective. Some things have been a direct result of bad that I’ve done and some things have not been my fault. Maybe I have to wait until the next life to understand what good has come of these events.

Which brings me back to karma. I looked it up, and one of the meanings is cause and effect, in other words, “Positive actions bring good outcomes and happiness, while negative actions lead to suffering or future challenges.” Well, that’s a nice belief, but we know it isn’t always true. Still, I believe we should focus on positive actions. Which brings me back to the whole maybe we need to wait until the next life belief.

My dad once said his second wife was the truest Christian he’d ever met. She was positive and had a wholehearted faith in God. And yet she died at 67 of stomach cancer. She was diagnosed in the end of November and died in early March of the next year. Cancer doesn’t look at whether you’re good or bad. It just hits.

Of course, cancer isn’t the only disease that hits indiscriminately. We’ve all heard it said it doesn’t matter what happens to you in life, it’s how you deal with it that counts. I believe that covers it all. For me, addressing the bad in my life, and the good for that matter, with faith and a growing understanding of the mercy of God, is what really matters.

Karma’s a nice belief, but it’s not everything.

Image Credits: Header © Artfinity; Question Mark © christianchan; Cross © Kevin Brine. All, stock.adobe.com

People have stopped ironing. I don’t know what to make of this, except I know I cannot be one of those people. Some things, yes. I have shirts that I can live without ironing if I take them out of the dryer quickly enough and smooth them out. I have other a few gauze shirts that I not only can’t iron (per instructions), I can’t even throw them in the dryer. And there are the shirts that truly are wrinkle-free.

Then there’s the clothing that must be ironed. My dad bought me a linen shirt a couple of years back that absolutely requires ironing. I have a linen and rayon shirt that supposedly is wrinkle-free, but you’d never know it. I hate ironing and wish I could fully embrace this trend of completely leaving it alone, but I can’t.

It’s another sign of being part of an older generation. I’m trying to avoid saying anything about how sloppy clothes look when they should be pressed but are not, because I fear that would make sound like an old lady.

Instead, I think about some of the things I do that an older generation would find appalling. For example, I wear jeans everywhere. I do own a pair of dress pants, but they’re seriously outdated, and I’m not even sure they fit. So when I say I wear jeans everywhere, I mean everywhere. Including church.

My uncle Bob died a couple of weeks ago. My cousin assured me their church is pretty casual, but I wasn’t counting on it being casual enough where wearing jeans to a funeral would be acceptable. I wouldn’t even do that at my own church. So tomorrow I’m off to buy a new pair of pants and an appropriate shirt.

I’m making sure both are wrinkle-free. Time to join the new generation.

Image Credits: Header © 100% HAND-CRAFTED; Cat Ironing © CrazyJuke; both–stock.adobe.com

Today, as you probably know, is the twenty-five year anniversary of 9/11. Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was when I first learned about what was happening. Sitting on my bed with the yellow floral comforter, watching the Today show. The news before the planes struck was pretty dull and I almost turned the TV off, when I heard Katie Couric give the first indication something bad had happened.

Minutes later, when the second plane struck, I picked up the phone and called my brother, who, with his family, lives in Manhattan and had a view of the twin towers out of the bedroom windows. I asked him if he was watching the news, and he said no. I told him to look out the window and turn on the news. At that point I heard my sister-in-law cry out–she saw what was happening. Knowing they were okay, I hung up and continued watching the news. I had an appointment that day to get my nails done, but I canceled it.

In the aftermath, weeks after the planes struck, I remember my sister-in-law saying it smelled like death outside. The smell just clung to you.

The nation pulled together after that. Yes, there was controversy, and it continues. But we had been attacked. Today, we are severely divided, but we come together to remember a day we can’t forget, a day that we pray will never be repeated. We remember the brave men and women of Flight 93 who fought back. We remember those who caught an earlier flight to get home to their loved ones,, and in doing so, lost their lives. We remember…we remember.