It's in almost every religious culture and it's even more highlighted in the Oriental religious philosophies. I am talking about the principle of Karma. It's the same karma that the Bible speaks of in Galatians 6:7- Whatever a man sows, so shall he (and the ladies too of course) reap! But, wait! There is a way to work around karma if I'm seeing it rightly.

Here's the way that Richard Smoley (and I agree) sees it, "In esoteric Christianity, there is only one way of escaping the karmic bill collector, and it is, in fact, FORGIVENESS".

This isn't some MAGNIOLQUENCE rhetoric: this is the real deal. In fact, its shows how much the Christian community is sleep walking, reading by rote, or just not getting what's right there in plain sight. You do remember the Lord's Prayer now don't you? Let me refresh your memory just in case.

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors".

I don't know about you, but this sure seems like "get out of jail free" card, or at least a commuted sentence with maybe a probationary period at worst. It's amazing that Christians say that they are followers of Jesus and yet they miss one of the UNIQUE contributions of the teachings of the Christos! Check me out on this, but I don't know of any teacher or teaching, both, before Jesus, or after him, that places so much emphasis on forgiveness. In fact the entire CONCEPT of FORGIVENESS is missing from many languages, let alone religious philosophies therein.

I truly feel that one of the greatest GIFTS that I have been given (I've had it for as long as I can remember) by the grace of God is forgiveness. God probably knew that I would NEED such a gift since my calling seems to be more that of a PIONEER and a ground-breaker than a maintenance worker. Those who know me probably didn't know that- but NOW you do!