KARMA!

I believe in Karma...what you put out there comes right back at you. I've learned doing the right thing...no matter what- is the only way to go...even if I don't want to...that being a goody two shoes-even when it makes me look weak....is a much more divine walk...than skipping to the beat of a drum that keeps banging my head against a wall of division and strife. I've learned that doing good...helping our neighbor, even when we don't know them--even when the odds are stacked against them...is the most natural emission of energy that we will ever release.

I flew into Bosnia severals years ago, in the belly of an army plane right on into Tuzla where the U.S. army was stationed. I was producing a documentary about the human condition...during war...and the internal call to heal by offering a helping hand. The young troops, wide eyed and baby faced amazed me with their solid sense of purpose and deep rooted faith. Despite the imminent danger-they were glad to be there--to give support and encouragement simply by their peaceful presence. In Sarajevo I interviewed a Catholic Archbishop Vinko Puljic, about why we Americans or anyone else for that matter-- why we should even care about this faraway land...a nation we knew very little about...why we should get involved in a battle that we did not begin...and could not end. Pausing- then looking me straight in the eye, the Cardinal replied, "We are all a part of the universal body of Christ. When one part of that body is suffering, we are not whole." Simple, profound, universal wisdom.

The message and the meaning behind the Cardinal's words have stayed with me...inspired me to look beyond the safety of my own private world...to the backyards and the burroughs of hurting people and families that I know very little about...but who simply need to know that someone cares, someone out there wants to help them...someone believes in them enough to carry them...until they can carry themselves.

That has been my personal experience. It seems that God has sent me a small army of my own. Family and friends who believe in me, who want to help me, who love me enough to give me support--even when it hurts...until I can make it on my own...until I can give back the love and the support that has filled me with hope and encouragement and a renewed sense of purpose for my life.

It is the golden rule-to do unto others as you would have them do unto you--while expecting nothing in return. Saint Therese of Lisieux said that the value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place. I've learned that sometimes what's placed right in front of us...is exactly the place we're supposed to be...and the only way out of that place is to do the right thing, to take the next best step...to walk right next to the one who needs us the most--even when we want to run the other way.

Life is a series of choices...nothing is etched in stone...and there is absolutely nothing that cannot be conquered...nothing that we cannot conquer on our own through the grace of God. But I've learned along the way, that the load which is lifted by love, is so much easier to carry, then the load we're left to carry on our own. That lending a hand instead of letting go-makes life on life's terms a little easier to bear...and that what we put out there, comes right back at us...and sometimes boomerangs at us...until we get it right.

Karma--I believe in it...I also believe we are part of a universal body of Christ...part of a universal body of being and I believe deeply in applying the golden rule every chance we get...full well knowing that sometimes we'll get it right and other times we won't...sometimes we'll say yes and other times no...but the more we try, the more tempted we will be to get it right the first time...to care about somebody else, even a complete stranger, because it's the right thing to do...and the only Karma that will lighten their load and our own.