The power of grace
In my last column I explained how man originally lived under God’s grace in the Garden of Eden. In this place of perfect harmony and balance between man and nature, God gave us His unmerited favor in the form of blessings and protection. But as a result of man choosing to believe the lie that he “shall not surely die” as a result of his disobedient actions (Genesis 3:4), mankind fell from God’s grace and was cursed with the Law of Karma.
The Law of Karma works like the Law of Gravity in that it never takes into consideration the good things you have done in your lifetime before imposing its consequences. Like with gravity, each time you “lose your balance” and make a mistake and hurt someone, you immediately owe a karmic debt for that mistake and you will go down for it. Karma is cold and calculating as she is known to dole out her chaotic justice in the most unexpected of times. Why do you think Karma’s nickname is Bitch?
Worse, our karmic debt can never be paid by our good actions. One reason is because we are always making mistakes and making mistakes is a part of daily life. The second reason it is impossible to balance out our karma by our good works is because we are conceived and born into a debt that can never be paid. From the moment of conception, we automatically owe a debt for all the blessings that we receive from the Earth and its Creator. These blessings include the Earth’s oceans and rivers, her plants and her animals, her beauty and her abundance. We received all the Earth has to offer along with the freedom to make our lives “more” without paying a thing. Birth alone instantly puts each person’s karmic debt into the deep red.
While good actions are important, hence the scripture, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17) It is not enough to be “good.” God’s grace is what brings balance back to life. Grace is like good karma credit. Grace steps in and pays the price when you can’t. The problem is that for the reasons I explained above, no one has any good karma credit. To reverse the curse of the Fall and save man from suffering and death, someone had to pay off our karmic debt.
Christ knew that the only way to save man from death was to conquer death itself, both emotionally and physically. Each time Christ showed wisdom and love while receiving lies, hate, and disdain, he was one step closer to inner peace, the end of needless suffering. And when Christ continued to show love, even in his last breaths, by asking for forgiveness for those who were torturing and killing him, he was able to cross to the other side in a pure state of love. This pure state of love is what conquered the seed of death that was in his body. Just as Buddha taught, Christ understood that to end the cycle of life and death, one must let go of suffering and live at one with the mind of God, whose mind is pure love. Christ did exactly this and, as a result, slowly ascended and conquered his own death.
Also, because Christ was unfairly given bad karma when he earned and deserved good karma for his pure words and actions, he was able to take his saved up good karma credits and literally pay the price to save mankind from emotional suffering and death. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” (Galatians 3:13).
It is now up to us to take advantage of God’s offer of unmerited grace and begin to believe that death has been conquered for all of us. Literally. Have faith that, just like with Christ, each time you show wisdom and love while receiving lies, hate, and disdain, you are one step closer to inner peace. And have faith that each time you let go and wisely forgive yourself and others in their mistakes, your body will become lighter and lighter as it frees itself from heavy emotional baggage. It is this process of ascension that will lead you to your last death, the ego death. It is at this point you will be reborn and live under the power of God’s grace.
Mother Owl
