We sometimes speak of karma as an instrument of Divine retribution - as a sword with which God is standing ready to strike down those who transgress Its laws. For many of us this is because we grew up in the framework of traditional Christianity with its vengeful and tyrannical Jehovah. We may have distanced ourselves from the surface trappings of our childhood religion, but the fundamental attitudes are deeply ingrained and harder to escape.
If karma were intended for punishment, it would be an incredibly inaccurate tool. "Good" things happen to "bad" people, and vice versa. This observation led me to conclude in an earlier post that things happen in the physical Universe at random. It's also possible that our opinions of "good" and "bad" are off the mark. But it's clear that there's no strong correlation between behavior and worldly rewards, whether behavior is measured against the traditional standards of our youth, or the "New Age" principles we have learned from teachings handed down thousands of years earlier.
What if karma is not a scourge for the disobedient, but the firm hand of Spirit guiding each of us to the experiences we need to have in order to learn the lessons plotted out for us in this turn of our existence? Material success and worldly comfort are not always the best teachers. We did not come here for them. We came to learn that Love is all there is, and to apply that learning in every life situation. We came to learn that all other principles we might choose to guide our choices are either subsumed in Love, or false and hollow. We need to reinforce that knowledge by learning to live every moment and make every decision in a manner dictated by Love. It is relatively easy to live by Love in soft times; much more difficult when times are hard. Each of us must learn at our own pace. But we all must run the gamut of life experiences to complete our education. Most of us will require many lifetimes to do so. Karma the Teacher must test us under a wide variety of circumstances, perhaps with many repetitions, to learn the value of Love and how to identify and produce a loving outcome in each situation.
Since we do not have active memories of our former existence, either in this material Universe or in the space between lifetimes where karmic planning takes place, we cannot judge our lot in life against the measure of lessons we need to learn. Much less are we able to understand the reasons for the circumstances in which others find themselves. It could be that what we perceive as randomness is in fact the mechanical operation of an unguided and impersonal Universe. But is it not more likely that Spirit employs the karmic record to help us find the lessons we set out to learn in this life? I would like to believe so.
If karma were intended for punishment, it would be an incredibly inaccurate tool. "Good" things happen to "bad" people, and vice versa. This observation led me to conclude in an earlier post that things happen in the physical Universe at random. It's also possible that our opinions of "good" and "bad" are off the mark. But it's clear that there's no strong correlation between behavior and worldly rewards, whether behavior is measured against the traditional standards of our youth, or the "New Age" principles we have learned from teachings handed down thousands of years earlier.
What if karma is not a scourge for the disobedient, but the firm hand of Spirit guiding each of us to the experiences we need to have in order to learn the lessons plotted out for us in this turn of our existence? Material success and worldly comfort are not always the best teachers. We did not come here for them. We came to learn that Love is all there is, and to apply that learning in every life situation. We came to learn that all other principles we might choose to guide our choices are either subsumed in Love, or false and hollow. We need to reinforce that knowledge by learning to live every moment and make every decision in a manner dictated by Love. It is relatively easy to live by Love in soft times; much more difficult when times are hard. Each of us must learn at our own pace. But we all must run the gamut of life experiences to complete our education. Most of us will require many lifetimes to do so. Karma the Teacher must test us under a wide variety of circumstances, perhaps with many repetitions, to learn the value of Love and how to identify and produce a loving outcome in each situation.
Since we do not have active memories of our former existence, either in this material Universe or in the space between lifetimes where karmic planning takes place, we cannot judge our lot in life against the measure of lessons we need to learn. Much less are we able to understand the reasons for the circumstances in which others find themselves. It could be that what we perceive as randomness is in fact the mechanical operation of an unguided and impersonal Universe. But is it not more likely that Spirit employs the karmic record to help us find the lessons we set out to learn in this life? I would like to believe so.
