Karmic
Reward
“Talent
is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is
self-given. Be careful.”
John
Wooden
I
rarely quote the “Wizard of Westwood,” but the simplicity of his
wisdom moves me, and I think is excellent advice for the time in which we
live. Having grown up on the wrong side of the tracks in a mill-town
in the 1950's, I experienced first hand the inequity that comes with
poverty. Shunning and bullying of those who cannot shop at department stores, whose shoes are not the right brand, and whose
home is down at the heels is not new. I feel deeply for children who
want desperately to be seen and valued, but know they are
insignificant in a society that emphasizes wealth above all else. We
are on a wrong path when the gulf between rich and poor becomes a
chasm that cannot be crossed. Make no mistake, the karmic
consequences of that will catch up with us, and in fact, already have.
What
we have in each lifetime, yours and mine, is an opportunity to get it
right—to use our God-given talents to serve the common good, to
use our man-given fame, if we have it, to help those who don't, and
to walk humbly with our Creator and our fellowman. We will live well and happy by understanding this simple truth: all that we
are, and all that we have, is a gift, and gifts are meant to be
shared. Whether we are rich, or poor, or somewhere in between, both
the opportunity, and the consequences, are the same. No one gets a
free pass on karma.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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