Karma.  Is Karma real?  I was once told very vehemently that Karma was not real, and was not something Christians believe in.  So, what is Karma supposed to be exactly?

I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but as part of Hindu philosophy, in very simple terms, it is considered the law of cause and effect.  It is the sum of a person’s actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next.  Well okay, I could certainly see where that might go against some Christian beliefs.  But if Karma is considered the law of cause and effect, meaning that for every action is an equal and opposite reaction, how might this affect people based on their behavior?

For instance, on my flight home last night, I sat next to the 20 something year old woman who couldn’t have weighed more than 90 pounds and was maybe 5 feet tall.  So, compared to me she had a ton of room in her seat.  And she used every square inch of it.  She contorted into positions I haven’t been able to even think about for the last 30 years or so, stuffing her bare feet into the pockets of the seat in front of her, or putting them up in air near my head, slouching way down in her seat, bumping my arm multiple times.  She answered her phone while we were taxiing down the runway, without a care in the world.  I thought about doing the teacher thing and giving her “the look” but restrained myself and focused on my book.  Thank goodness it was a short flight.  As we were getting ready to land, and everything was supposed to be in an upright position, she actually pushed her seat back, slouching even further.  Not my job to reinforce the rules, right?  Unfortunately for her, the plane had quite the bumpy landing and she just about slid out from under her seatbelt onto the floor.  Karma?  Simple consequences? I don’t know, but I had difficulty hiding the smile.

I have witnessed people mistreating others, or treating them unjustly, wishing I could make things better, only to find out that Karma, the universe, or whoever, took care of things later. But it’s not only bad behavior that seems to cause some kind of reaction.  I witnessed a recipient of some unjust behavior behave in a very professional manner and step away.  Later, some great things happened for her.  The other person, not so much.

I suppose Karma could actually be a good thing in terms of teaching us, IF Karma could be viewed as consequences of either good or bad behavior, but it’s not as simple as that, is it?  In schools today, real, appropriate consequences have been completely watered down or taken away.  Years ago, when I taught in a parochial school, we had an 8th grade boy who thought it was funny to urinate intentionally on the floor.  Once caught, his consequence was to work with the custodian cleaning the bathroom floors for a length of time.  This was a consequence that truly matched the action, with perhaps a little bit of Karma to boot.  Now a child might be asked to sit in a safe seat.  When every consequence is the same for different behaviors, it’s just not the same effect I’m afraid.

We try to protect our kids from every consequence as well.  Parents running homework or instruments or lunch to school when a child forgets it, completely take away the natural consequence which one hopes will lead the child to learning more responsibility.  Allowing a child to go back in at recess to get their coat when they insisted they didn’t need one before will not teach them a lesson to learn from.  I’m not saying to not allow a child to have a coat in freezing weather, but when Mr. Tough Guy is freezing in a t-shirt in 50 degree weather because he didn’t want to wear a jacket, it’s not such a bad thing to have him deal with it for 15 minutes so that the behavior/decision changes next time.

We’ve all experienced it.  That time when you try to speed around someone to get to school faster, only to get stopped at the red light as that someone pulls up beside you.  Little reminders that doing something selfishly and not thinking of others is not okay.  However, some consequences can be life changing, affecting not only the person whose behavior is in question, but also those around them and those who follow them.  Children need to learn this and it needs to be brought to their attention.  Actions as a child and the consequences are usually pretty benign.  If we wait for them to grow up for them to experience real consequences, it could be life changing or even fatal.

So, Karma or just natural consequences?  Either way, we need to not only teach children but be examples to children as to how to respect universal laws; that for every action is an equal and opposite reaction.  Sometimes it feels like Karma or the universe or God bides its/His time as we watch those who seemingly get away with horrendous behavior.  But it’s not our place to judge.  As I tell my kids, the only person you can control is yourself and make sure you do right in the world. And that’s hard enough. Don’t stoop to that person’s level. The rest will take care of itself.