Karma

We picked up our Boykin Spaniel in Florence, South Carolina. The name already given her was “Karma.” The irony of the name was that the day we picked her up was the same day of Donald Trump’s first indictment. We thought the name was apt for the moment in history, when a former President got what many people thought was coming to him.
 
In Eastern Religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, karma is a concept of action, work or deed that effects consequences. Essentially, karma is cause and effect. From seventh century writings comes wisdom, “a person consists of desires, and as is his desire, so is his will, and as is his will, so is his deed, and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.” First century Jesus spoke it like this, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
 
Sir Isaac Newton states a similar idea in his third law of motion. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Colloquial slang says it like this, “what goes around, comes around.” This is the way of justice. We get what is coming to us - good or bad. 
 
This is why good behavior begets goodness. Kindness begets kindness. And so forth. At least that’s how we hope life works. Sometimes justice and karma take too long. We begin to lose hope and that is how evil creeps in.
 
Our Karma is boisterous, unbounded joy and love. We open the backdoor and she yelps in delight as she races to the garden to see where the action is. Rabbits scoot away. Chipmunks scurry to their holes. Squirrels shinny up trees. She has scared them all, but so far, she has not caught anything. No such prizes. At heart she is a hunter. And she likes water. She swims in the pool and if there is no pool, a mud puddle will do. She gets many baths and loves the towel almost as much as the water itself.
 
The love Karma gives is the love that comes back to her. We have been told attachment to a new dog comes in threes. Three days. Three weeks. Three months. It has taken less than three months for us to bond with this precious girl. 
 
In the same months of bonding with a new dog, Mr. Trump garnered three more indictments. Ninety-one felony charges, but who is counting? This may be a moment of karma in the former president’s life but he appears to relish the attention of the present moment.
 
I honestly wish this were not the “hair-on-fire” moment I think it is. I would love to be wrong about a man who seems cruel and petty. I would love to think his threats and foment are theater, that deep down in his heart there is a decent man vying in a popularity contest. My eyes and ears tell me something different. 
 
I would love to be wrong thinking that if Trump is elected to another term, the revenge and retribution he is promising will not destroy the American rule of law and the Justice System. Perhaps what I hear, what I read, and what I see with my own eyes is mis-interpreted in my little brain. 
 
Maybe I need to put my disgust, worry, and fear on the back burner while this whole election plays out. Why should I worry when smart people, like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, are planning a Trump presidency that will change the character and structure of America? Perhaps I just need to chill… even when I think this is chilling.
 
Truth is, I don’t think I am wrong. Trump is a clear and present danger to America. And I am tired of walking on eggshells around neighbors and family who are so entrenched in the MAGA movement, I have become the enemy. Admittedly, I have three strikes against me. I am a Democrat. I am liberal. I am a woman. Woe unto me! I risk being ground up and spit out just being who I am. 
 
I do not know all things, but I do know this. Decency and kindness, generosity, hospitality, goodness and fairness build the world I want to live in. I am not wrong in seeing what a pathetic, small, cruel person Trump is, but I would love to be wrong in thinking he is bad for America. 
 
Down the road, I won’t say, “I told you so,” too often. I promise. 
 
Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com