Live in the sunshine and everything will be bright and sunny. Live in the darkness and you will see nothing but the shadows. Live with goodness and love and your days will be filled with good things and love. Live with selfishness and hatred and you will have nothing but pain and misery and love.
These statements seem to be as self-evident as the Law of Cause and Effect. This is also the Law of Karma:
- “As you sow, so shall you reap”.
- Whatever we put out in the Universe is what comes back to us.
- If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Love, Friendship…Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Loving and a True Friend.
And yet, in real life, the opposite also happens very often. Bad things happen to good people and bad people live very prosperous lives. This paradox has befuddled sages and philosophers down the ages. This reminds us that the human mind has its limits. Like, it is difficult for us to fully comprehend the vastness and the complexity of the universe. Yet, it is there. These limits to the human mind and human comprehension and understanding are the ineffable mysteries of life. It is only with the human heart that we perceive and see life’s mysteries. As the Little Prince said: “One sees rightly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”
We will not understand these mysteries but with our hearts we will know that they are real and that they are true. This is the realm of faith. We may not see the stars in the daytime but we know they are out there. At night, there is no sun but we know that it will rise again at the dawn of the new day.
So bad things happen to good people, like Job. Jesus told us to do good anyway. So some people get ahead by doing evil. Jesus told us to repent and turn away from our evil ways. And when people get hurt, they wish for that sweet revenge. Jesus told us to forgive our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Our mind will help us get through life day by day. Reason tells us what to do every step of the way. But it is our heart that will bring us successfully to the end of the journey. It is the faith in our heart that will help us deal with the uncertainties of the journey and the mysteries in our life.
Then Jesus began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sid on, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
Matthew 11:20-24