Luck or God’s Will?

There’s an explanation for everything and why things are the way they are. Sometimes we say it’s “because of God’s Will”, or “it’s Karma,” or “it’s luck.” Whatever we say is the cause of things, many of us relate to something. We do it without realising how much we rely on it.

Fail at something, and we’ll blame an outside force for it. And then the very next day, we’ll ask the same unseen influence to bless us with success.

Almost every culture from every period of history has performed this behaviour in one way or another. It’s in our DNA to blame, thank, ask for, something we can’t see or touch. (And then we want to control it, sell it, be able to influence it in ways that benefit us, but that’s another story.)

Have you got your take on this matter? There isn’t a right or wrong answer. I promise, your reply won’t destroy your belief by doing so. You already believe what you believe for the reasons you believe it. The only thing that matters is what works for you.

Karma, luck, one God, or several gods — if it’s true to you, it’s true for you. Tell me your faith and your kind of truth, and leave a message below.

You might be the kind of person who says: “Oh, why didn’t I take a left at that fork in the road? I should’ve gone right instead.”

“I’ve had so much bad luck. It’s about time I had good luck and won the lottery.”

“I’m always dating the wrong kind of person. Why can’t I find someone nice? I’m due for a change to find someone better.”

Finding answers to existential questions isn’t uncommon. But then there’s the second half of the equation, that to which we give thanks:

“I’m lucky to have an education and the successes in my life.”

“Karma has brought me good fortune and health.”

“I’m so thankful to have the ability to learn, work hard and raise wholesome children. My Christian faith yields rewards.”

Giving thanks seems like a natural thing to do too.

Some of us expend great energy giving thanks for the positive influences in our lives. Others will spend the same amount of time cursing the negative ones.

Many of us are absolutely certain that our lives are influenced by our prayers, actions or good deeds. If we do right by it, it will do right by us. We’ll find peace and inner happiness through luck, prayer, or karma.

In the early days of nineteen eighty-five, I dated a young lady who stated flatly that she was an atheist. She didn’t believe in God and was proud of her choices. She put her faith in karma. She said that all good things come to those who do the right thing for others.

The right thing wasn’t defined, but the general idea was to be nice to people because people would always be nice to her. I liked that principle.

We parted ways, and then I met her many years later. In two thousand and one, I found her outlook on karma to be somewhat abusive and one-sided. She was adamant that she was entitled to an abundance of good karma for all the bad that’d come before her to that point.

Her soon-to-be ex-husband had run off with a younger woman. Their breakup led to battles over property, money and their child. She had to move states and start all over again. The experience left her alone, afraid, and extremely angry.

Okay, first let me reveal something about our connection. She and I were once teenage lovers — and occasional affair partners over the next forty years. That’s how I found out about her sad past.

It enabled me to compare our lives over the decades. I got to witness forty years of change take place in someone who lived by the rule of karma — I watched her abuse it too. It was used to destroy others at her request.

She had lost much. It felt as though the bad things in life were hers to bear. To her, karma failed to mete out the right justice at the right time.

Perhaps karma didn’t fail but succeeded in every way. She was simply misinterpreting the message.

All the misfortune she said she received may have been her own doing. It makes sense. If I’m to support anyone’s belief in karma, it’s reasonable to suggest that they are the cause of it. Their actions, words and intentions are all the evidence that’s needed to understand the outcome. Karma was simply resolving itself in her life.

But I was still curious about the details of how it all happened — and I could’ve been wrong about her — so I wanted to know how it all fit together. If karma was responsible for her present, what were the steps taken in the past that brought her so much badness? I had so many questions to ask. But I didn’t want to be obvious when speaking to her.

My part-time lover wasn’t shy about telling me how it happened. Fury fuelled her words. She used the fire to burn a man I’d never met — and their former nanny. She told me her story so many times I got sick of it. But it changed each time. Eventually, she admitted she was violent towards him. She justified her actions by saying he deserved it.

What goes around comes around, right?

I can’t tell if her husband was stolen from her or if he decided to walk out on their marriage. There’s even a possibility she pushed him out. I don’t know. I was just an ex-boyfriend from long ago. She was never violent towards me.

There is more about our part-time forty-year affair written into my novel. If you enjoy stories about karma, passion and romance, you’re going to love it. It’s going to blow your socks off when you find out that a crucial part of the story I left out of this post is discoverable inside the book. You won’t believe it when you read it, but when you do, it is real, every part of it. It happened just the way it did in real life! Yes. Indeed, it did. Bookmark this page, read the book and look for the bit about karma and the window that faces a mountain. Re-read this post after you’re done and see if it makes better sense.

Leave me a note at the bottom of this page. Tell me if you believe in karma, God’s will, or something else. Let me know your thoughts about what you found inside SEETHINGS.

–Michael (Dark Fiction. Author of SEETHINGS (the first book), free for a limited time)