KARMA AND GRACE

You have probably heard the word “karma.” It is a word from Eastern spirituality expressing what we might call the law of cause and effect. What you do has results and they will affect you. The universe is very efficient.  Jesus expressed it by saying, “You reap what you sow.”

Many times when we speak about karma or cause and effect we will relate it to disease and physical illness. For instance, if we are sick or perceive ourselves as sick then we think we must have done something wrong to manifest this illness. This kind of thinking creates what I call “new age guilt.” (Many have spent a long time working through old unhealthy guilt and shame, only to create a new kind which is just as destructive and burdensome.)

It always felt to me there was something missing here and I could not quite put my finger on it. Then this word popped into my head—Grace, which is the continuing activity of God’s love within us.

Ah, even beyond my negative thinking, even beyond my vision of death and illness, beyond all of that comes the absolute, unconditional healing love of God. You reap what you sow, yes. And beyond our negativity and mistakes God’s love is always working inside of us. Always.

Jesus saw no lepers or cripples; he saw people as well and whole, and if they could buy into His vision of wholeness, even a little, they were healed.