"Everything happens for a reason."
"God works in mysterious ways."
More old adages that people love to say to those who are suffering or dealing with loss. We nod our heads and smile at the offered comfort, but they sound like empty words. Everything happens for a reason--what reason? God works in mysterious ways--what good could come from this?
I think the universe has an inherent goodwill towards all men. It is constantly looking out for you, moving you towards your destiny or where you should be, giving you chances to shape your destiny with your choices, granting you little blessings that you don't even see. You can call this force God, the Universe, Fate, Chance, Lady Luck, Destiny, whatever you like, but it's really just a finely woven pattern of events, a never-ending chain reaction that is in action at all times for all people. Worship it if you want, but it's not a deity and could care a less. Far better to be grateful to it and for it and to simply have faith in it, I'd say.
Karma works through this force (as well as the free will of others); what you're sending out the universe will eventually bring back to you, and you will reap as you sow. The universe will give you what you deserve, in the end, and it's up to you what you deserve. The universe is not god, though; it is a machine whose purpose is to maintain balance. It doesn't think or make choices or hand down decrees; people do. The energy, and life force, and goodwill of the universe, which is in every living thing, all of this is God, but only men can consciously manifest it. Only you can make the choices that lead to your destiny and take control of it. The natural goodwill of the world will do little for you if you haven't uncovered the deity within you.
Everything does happen for a reason. There are no coincidences. Every little thing that happens to you was meant to happen. When you take a moment to light a cigarette, and a parent swipes a toddler from behind your car that would have been hit if you hadn't paused, that's a shining example--one small, insignificant action averts a major catastrophe. Even the bad things that happen are setting you up for good things. Sometimes, the Force is a bit of a trickster that way. Sometimes it works through alchemy, forcing you to sacrifice something, so that it can give you something else.
I was sobbing in my car over my dog when I realized I needed to go home, and as soon as I got on the road, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace--like I was right where I needed to be, and the dog was right there with me. I got into town on a day when my spirit sister desperately needed to see me, in time to spend Mother's Day with my kids and save their dad from having to quit school, and came home with three extra passengers that are already having a positive benefit on this household. I was expecting to return with a dog, and the universe gave me a cat and one of my sons as well. If I were a Christian, I'd be praising Jesus. God does indeed work in mysterious ways--or should I say, the universe does.
When one door closes, three more are standing open for you. And there are signs everywhere to help you find your way. Every song you hear that sets the wheels in your mind spinning, every coincidence you notice that stops you in your tracks, every dejavu moment and chance encounter--they're all little signs. Tarot works like this, too; you draw the cards you were meant to draw, at that time on that day. Tomorrow's cards may be completely different, but this is what you need to see today, right now. It may not mean anything tomorrow, may not make sense right now, but in the long run, it will.
