bacon:
noun
Etymology: Germanic origin
meaning: The smoked or cured side of a pig.
karma:
noun
Etymology: Sanskrit
meaning: The force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence.
I feel like I understand bacon pretty well. It is not a very complicated concept to grasp... and it is delicious. Because I understand bacon, I have no problem talking about bacon with other people or explaining what it is like to someone who still needs to be enlightened. Even if I did not like bacon, I feel like I am familiar enough with it that if someone else were to bring it up in conversation and told me how much they liked bacon I would be able to relate to them and understand why they feel the way they do about bacon. I have a pretty healthy understanding of bacon.
I am not an expert in this area, but karma seems to be a little more complicated than bacon. Also I would argue that, on a whole, karma has a greater influence in peoples theology than bacon does. I also think that people with religious beliefs that do not subscribe to the idea of karma are very quick to dismiss it without taking the time to understand why it is that other people embrace the idea. Things like this often times produce barriers rather than bridges... and I like to think that as a follower of Christ, I should be in the business of bridge building.
A friend of mine, Mark Herringshaw, seems to also care about this.
He recently wrote a book entitled
The Karma of Jesus
In this book, Mark looks at two normally separated areas in life: karma and grace.
The book is based off of a chance conversation that he had with a young man with a lot of questions. Karma and Christ are the focus of this conversation and as Mark recalls this event he draws some interesting conclusions of how the concept of karma interacts with the concept of grace. I read through this book last month and was interested to hear how grace and karma would fit together.
I feel as though I am able to better understand different ways of thinking after reading through his book and learning more about the history and application of karma. It definitely feels more like bacon than it did before.
Now, I have never done this before... but I am going to try something new...
Mark has offered to donate 2 copies of his book to readers of momentum, and I am going to make you work for them. so this is the deal...
The Deal
In the comment section beneath this blog, leave your most interesting, amusing, outrageous story dealing with Karma.
In one week I will pick two winners to receive a free copy of Mark's book based on the comment/stories that are left.
So... get going! leave some feedback! Win a free book!
Building bridges, eating bacon, understanding karma.
just that simple, just that easy.
Peace.
