We’ll make this very long story short. Last night I stood at my altar and prayed. Today, my prayers were answered. The specifics aren’t that important. The gist of it is that I prayed for guidance. The point is something that I realized on the way home today.
I was cruising through traffic, grateful to be done with work for the day, and thinking of someone I know who lost her job. She can’t prove it, but she’s pretty convinced she was sabotaged and I know enough about the circumstances to agree with her. As I flowed along in that sea of metal, I said a prayer for her, praying that goodness be visited upon her ten times the evil she endured. Then I got to thinking about how the prayer I had prayed last night had been answered for me today, and I realized how fortunate I was. So I said another prayer of thanks that the Infinite All answers my prayers.
It could be that I happen to pray for things just before they come to pass. Or it could be that I’ve learned to pray for the right types of things--things like guidance, help, strength, etc. I wonder if the big G answers all prayers, it’s just that not everyone is able to hear or see or understand those answers. Maybe I’m just lucky. Maybe the Program really works and my ever-deepening connection with a higher power is the direct result of my pursuing the spiritual. Shit, it could be any combination of all of the above.
I really want to write that there are some seriously fucked up people in the world, that some majorly bad shit really does happen. But I keep thinking about the Zen master story about avoiding judgment. I’ll try to keep it short. The story goes a little like this...
“One day a Zen master was tending his horse when the stallion broke out of its pen and ran away. When he told his neighbor about it, the neighbor replied with sympathy, saying how unfortunate it was. But the master just shrugged, saying, ‘eh. Good, bad. We’ll see.’
“A short time later, the horse returned with a filly. The law of the land was that any horse in your pen are yours to keep, and so the Zen master now found himself with a mated pair suitable for breeding. He mentioned this to his neighbor who was overjoyed at the good news. To which the Zen master replied, ‘eh. Good, bad. We’ll see.’
“When it came time for the filly to be broken in and taught to take a rider, the Zen master’s son volunteered eagerly to train her as best he knew how. But on the filly’s final day of training, she struck her hoof into a ground hole, breaking a leg. The Zen master’s son was thrown from her back and injured so badly he could not walk. Upon hearing what had happened, the neighbor rushed over to offer his condolences at such a bad turn of events. To which the Zen master replied, ‘eh. Good, bad. We’ll see.’
“A week later, the country went to war. Generals of the army began moving from house to house, collecting all young men able to serve, and pulling them from the arms of their weeping wives and mothers who feared they might not ever lay eyes on them again. But when they came to the Zen master’s house, his son was still laid up in bed recovering from his injuries. The neighbor watched the army officers leave then said in earnest to the Zen master what a fortunate stroke of good luck his son’s accident had turned out to be. To which the Zen master replied, ‘eh. Good, bad. We’ll see.’
The story continues, of course, but I think the point is made. What seems like tragedy at first may turn out to be a very good thing, and vice versa. Life will throw us all kinds of ups and downs; a calm peaceful mind looks at all of these with the same detachment (however loving) and thinks, “hmm... interesting.”
Some people believe it’s important to always hope for the best. I am not one of them. I think the thing to strive for is an unornamented acceptance. An event may turn out to be good, it may turn out to be bad. Life creates a pattern, with an ebb and flow, and one thing leads to another. When I am calm, centered within myself, I am best able to handle the oceans of this world, be they crashing waves or calm seas.
To my friend who was wronged, my heart goes out to you. You didn’t deserve it. Try not to let your heart and mind be drawn in to the evil done by poisoned souls. What was done to you has far more to do with them than yourself. Remember, too, what they say about Karma.
They say, “Karma is a bitch.”
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