Karma, Anyone?

"A Dog starv'd at his Master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus'd upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood."

-- William Blake

William Blake saw the inner workings of the world. He knew that how we treat others, even non-human others, influences our future. Sorry, there's no way to run a controlled, double blind experiment on karma. No way to prove that treating others cruelly will produce bad results. But I don't really think we need external proof.

All of us know, deep inside ourselves, that using and misusing others is a classic sin. And most of us don't starve dogs or beat horses. But how do we treat each other, how do we treat ourselves? Not well, my friends, not well.

Sure, I know you're passably civil most of the time. You don't spit on street people, or pinch babies. But just refraining from being a son-of-a-bitch is not going to get you nominated fro the Nobel Peace Prize. The ruin of our state can be predicted by the thousands of hungry and homeless in every American city. The shedding of our blood is called for because we started a war over oil.

What can you do? You can vote out of office any SOB who supports war. You can forgo the latest HD, flat screen TV and use that same money to help someone who is truly in need.

I know I'm getting old when I find myself thinking thoughts like "the world is going to hell in a hand basket." Even the phrase is from my grandmother's era! But just because I'm rapidly becoming an old fart, and speaking like a cantankerous old coot, doesn't mean the assessment isn't true. Cruelty seems to be growing not abating. We seem to be getting better and better at rationalizing non-loving behavior.

Because that's what it all boils down to -- love. Can we live with love in our hearts? Can we share that love with the world? Or are we going to continue to pretend like it doesn't matter until it's too late?

You can't legislate love. You can't force people to practice it. You can only love. Now and Now and Now. Each moment, choosing love. What else you got to do?