Contemplating Karma

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Katie Redden: "is contemplating karma."

It's a tricky thing, that karma. Sometimes I wish I had an actual chart so I could know where I stand in the karma ranks. I'm sure I've racked up some good karma along the way, but I KNOW I've brought on some bad karma too. So, where do we begin?

This week on Facebook, I called a Christian woman out on some hypocritical bullshit. Bad karma? You decide... A week prior, I noticed she became a fan of a page that in a "joking" way, wished for President Obama's death. After apparently getting some backlash from someone else, she apologized for the action. But then...and here's what pissed me off...she became a fan of a page called 1,000,000 Christians praying for President Obama. What? Really? First you want him dead, then someone doesn't like you for it, then you decide it's time to pray....for him. I'd say it's time to pray for your own stupid self than for him. Ok, so, my response was to ask if this was her way of making amends for fanning the other page, and to tell her just how hypocritical I think her actions were, and to tell her that the way I pray, everyone gets love...LOVE...not hate or ill will. LOVE. Well, she sent me a message slamming my choice to post updates about drinking and swearing, unfriended me, and told me to have a nice day. I'm just glad she didn't say she would pray for me. My only response to her was, "How very Christian of you." My real thoughts were...who the hell do you think you are, the only time you've ever commented on anything I wrote on Facebook was when you were trying to sell me something from your company, posting things about having fun is not the same as wishing someone dead, and once again, who the hell do you think you are? I think her answer would probably be...a good Christian woman. Hmmm...

So, I don't know what kind of karma that brought me, but I'm now wondering what kind of karma another friend of mine will get for one of his recent posts. Yesterday, he posted a story about how he was at McDonald's and an old man there was short about two dollars for his meal. He said in the post it was the man's first meal in two days. He said he paid for the man's meal. At the beginning of the post, he said sometimes there are angels in hiding. Hmmm....first he claims to be an angel. Second, he talks about how down-and-out this man LOOKS, and because of that, decides the man hasn't eaten for two days. I REALLY doubt, knowing this guy, that he had any sort of conversation with the old man, or really knew how long it had been since he'd eaten. But it sounded good for his story, since buying lunch for a pretty girl or teenage kid at McDonald's wouldn't have been so angelic. The kicker is, at the end of his post, he tells us all to "pay it forward". Okay, good message, but really??? Tooting your own horn because you spent maybe five bucks on a Big Mac meal for some random guy kinda defeats the purpose, no?

Honestly, I can't count the times in my life where I've wished someone dead. Because there are none. And I can't count the times where I've helped someone I didn't know because I could afford it (or sometimes couldn't). Because there are too many. I'm pretty sure this is the case for most people. I don't deem myself special, and certainly NOT an angel. And I don't think I need to tell everyone every detail about it. Actually, I think it's best kept close to my heart, a sort of secret karma tally for myself. Something to feel good about without screaming it from the rooftops. Something to just do, when need crosses my path. Like a reflex.

So, there you have it...karma via Facebook. What do YOU think?