Karma And Grace, Again

TUES., MAR. 2, 1993, 6:16 AM
FARM, STUDY

You spoke last evening of My servant Hugh Lynn’s presentation on karma and grace. I liked that idea when he first presented it (for, naturally, I had helped him develop it), and he continued to improve it. Remaining a Presbyterian here you shall have few chances to express what I tell you again this morning, as you watch the snow melt, but it should be a solid part of your understanding.

I tell you that karma is the law of justice and grace is supreme mercy. These are opposites that do not oppose each other so much as they complement, like the yin and the yang. Karma can be quite immediate and simple: you were careless, you slipped on the ice, and your shoulder hurt and was partly dysfunctional for several months, and still hasn’t fully recovered. Karma can also be simple and longer term: a man requires heart by-pass surgery because of years of smoking, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise. A bit more complex was the healing of your leg through more appreciation of the handicaps of others and more willingness to give of yourself in daily human interaction.

These are all examples of how karma in the simple now situations. You sow and then you reap. There is some action, and then some result. You read, and you remember. You study and you learn. There is a just result from an action or an interaction. This is simple karma… that most of you in your culture accept, because you see it and expect it.

Grace is its complement. Generally, in non-spiritual terms you would call it luck. You are careless, and you don’t get hurt. You let a tire on your truck reach a dangerous condition, but you, with My help, noticed the bulge in time, and you were spared a nighttime tire-changing, or even a harm-producing accident. I may help or it may just be that the just consequences of an act are withheld. Life is a continuing balance of these “forces.”

However, I have told you of everlasting life, which has always been a “feature” of earth life, but was improved by My life, death, and resurrection as Jesus. In this, karma can be cumulative. You are in the pleasant life you lead because of other living experiences “before” this one. You are having another chance to be a teacher, and your positive karma is continuing to build with what you continue to do. You have had experiences wherein you have had trouble and worries regarding money. In this life you had a somewhat similar experience. You have done fairly well, but with still too much concern and not enough trust that I do provide. Depending on how you finish out this life you may have completed this karmic task.

But actually any karmic debts that you have have all been “paid in full” by your acceptance of My grace. This is quite comparable to what you learned about Hindu holy men, years ago. They may live on in earth life after reaching or accepting enlightenment, until it seems time to “drop the body.” You have accepted My grace, which means that whatever happens to you now is of My doing and whatever you do is for Me. This concept is still not clear with you, but I tell you that this is what grace bestows.