If you were to step back for a few and be totally honest I
think you will agree that most people live their lives according to Karma. I
think most regardless of age or background believe that people ultimately
deserve what they get. If you are a nice person then clearly nice things will
come your way of if you are that sinister bad type of person than a ‘crappy’
life awaits you.
The difficulty with this mentality is that too often bad
people win and good people lose. It
shocks me at times how some of my friends live in the revenge get even mindset
where the second you push them the wrong way they are ready to go after
you. I know that patience and
forgiveness can only go so far with this type of mindset when someone will give
you a few chances to do it right before they totally write you off.
Over the last week there has been a bus strike in Phoenix
that has caused my wife and I to be taxi service to a large group of students
and adults. We don’t mind doing this for a short period of time. The challenge
was that a couple of times something happened, miscommunication, where we went
to pick someone up and they had already gotten a ride or their phone was off
and there was no way for us to know they were ready to get picked up. This
scenario could have caused long term heartache if there wasn’t a grace-centered
approach to life on all ends!
I’m so appreciative of Bono from U2 to help delineate the
difference between grace and karma and what defines his life and so much hope
defines your life!
Bono’s
take on grace: “It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who
created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with
people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace
and Karma…
You
see, at the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you
put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in
physics – in physical laws – every action is met by an equal or opposite one.
Its clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe.
I’m absolutely sure of it.
And
yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “As you reap, so will
you sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you
like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news
indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
That’s
between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be
my judge. I’d be in deep shit. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding
out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross because I
know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.
So what defines your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment