Everything I do, good or bad, eventually comes back to me. That is the Law of the Harvest. I reap what I sow. It is the Law of Karma. What goes around comes around. But there is a higher law that can override and trump these laws. This is the Law of Love.
There are people who give expecting something in return. They do good in anticipation of a reward. They are governed by the Laws of the Harvest and Karma. There are people who give without expecting in return. They do good to those who cannot pay them back. Or, they do so anonymously. They follow the Law of Love.
I consider authentic love relationships and I realize I cannot apply the Laws of the Harvest and Karma to them. There can be no accounting or balancing of accounts in real love relationships. A marriage that has been subjected to a cost/benefit analysis is bound to fail. There is no return on investments in raising children. There is no profit and loss statement nor a balance sheet in true friendship.
In my marriage, in my parenting, in my friendships, in my service to others, I have always tried to give without counting the cost, to strive without seeking for rest or respite, to devoted and dedicated without expecting any rewards. I have not always been successful but I pray I have succeeded more often than I have failed. In my prayers, I keep on asking, “How am I doing in doing your will and following your Commandment of Love, Lord?”
In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.
~ Psalm 131
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 14:12-14