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 is 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.
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Beautiful post, Belinda. I definitely feel that positivity manifests, and I tend to look for the good in everything. It is hard not to take in the news and not feel ill. What keeps me going, is to make a difference in any way I can to help others.
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I think helping others is key. You do that in so many ways with your art and your music. Using our talents in a positive way is such a gracious way of living.
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This reminded me of my mother, who one day years ago bought the book “When Bad Things Happen To Good People.” It was a signal she was questioning her faith based on some recent events, and I understood her looking elsewhere for answers in that moment. I too have seen karma in action, as well as fail to materialize when you’d expect it. My belief is that in the end we will all be held accountable, but in the meantime we should look out for each other and help in any way we can.
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I think you’re absolutely right, and I firmly believe that helping others is the right thing to do. I also understand questioning your faith. I don’t believe God is threatened by that.
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Belinda, the second definition at the end is the spiritual definition in eastern philosophies.
I’ve had this convo with several people and one thing I like to remind others is that it may look like negative actions don’t always have negative consequences, but the truth is, we don’t know what someone is suffering with.
For example, someone’s karma could be disease or something else less physical, like losing something important to them. Either way, I think we shouldn’t discount the concept. It doesn’t always have to be something so woo-woo.
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Sorry, when I looked it up I read something different. I do believe in being positive to bring good things into your life, and being negative will have negative results. However, I think the whole truth is bigger than that. You’re right, we don’t know what others are experiencing.
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