Philosophy 101

I am a firm believer in the old adage, “What goes around, comes around.” Some people may phrase it as, “You reap what you sow.” Still others may advise, “You get what you deserve.”

Each of these is a way of saying, in effect: If you do a good deed, you will benefit from the good deed of another. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but at some point during your life. Or, perhaps, once you arrive in the Great Hereafter -- assuming that is your final destination.

I also believe the converse is true. Thus, if you perform a bad deed, then…well, you get the idea.

I suppose you could liken this to the philosophy of good and bad karma. According to Buddhist teachings, karma is the force generated by a person’s actions and determines the nature of that person’s next existence. Create bad karma, and you may return to earth as an earthworm.

Now, some people may dismiss these events as mere coincidence, but even if they happen to be correct, the world would undoubtedly be a better place if everyone went about their business as if this principle were the law.

I have tried to instill a little of this philosophy in my sons, but it’s a difficult concept to grasp for a generation that is accustomed to instant gratification. After all, if we left the restaurant selection up to my kids, we’d only eat at establishments that included the words “fast” and “food” in their unofficial titles.

Still, I can’t help but try.

For instance, the other day my younger son came to me complaining that his older brother was picking on him.

“Have I ever told you about something called, ‘What goes around, comes around’?”

He gave me a look that said, “Oh, no, not another one of Dad’s goofy lessons. Why did I open my mouth…”

Unfazed, I continued: “What that means is, if you do something bad to someone, eventually something bad will happen to you. It has to do with something called ‘karma.’”

“Is that one of those new cars down at the auto show?’

“No, it’s a philosophy about--“

“A philoso-what?”

“Okay, look at it like this: Your brother picks on you, which is a bad thing -- right?”

Vigorous nodding.

“Well, someday someone bigger is going to pick on him, and he’ll learn what it feels like. Then, maybe he won’t pick on you again.”

“Cool. When is that gonna happen?”

“I don’t know. It may not happen for a while, but it will happen. That’s what it means when I say, ‘What goes around, comes around.’”

He pondered this lesson a moment, then said, “Can’t you just take away his Nintendo and send him to his room?”

So, maybe he’s a little too young for a lesson in philoso-what, but someday he will understand what I am getting at.

After all, practical examples of this belief-system appear all around us. Just the other day I came across the following story:

B.J. Lundin, 20, of Poolville, Texas, was tailgating the car of Stephen Thomas Manley Jr. The latter tapped his brakes to send a message to Lundin to back off. All this did was send Lundin into a rage. He eventually pulled around Manley, then screeched to a halt -- blocking Manley's car. Lundin proceeded to jump out of his car and, seeing that Manley had his windows rolled up and his doors locked, started throwing rocks at Manley’s car. Deep in a blind rage, Lundin was kicking and hitting Manley's car when another motorist drove by and accidentally ran him over. Lundin was pronounced dead at the scene.

One might surmise that Mr. Lundin was not a believer in the adage, “What goes around, comes around.” But maybe he will change his mind when, in the next life, he looks in the mirror and sees an earthworm staring back.

Copyright 2003 Marc L. Prey
All rights reserved.