Tales From the Burning Prairie

Some people believe in reincarnation; some people believe that we only get one shot, one try at getting it right. What if we don’t get it right this time but if given one or two extra tries, we would? Are we out of luck?

The phrase “old soul” has always resonated for me; hearing it applied to some people, I think, Yes, that’s just exactly, precisely it. And there have to be “new souls” to balance; people who bring a sense of wonderment and child-like joy to even the smallest, most mundane things.

Each viewpoint can present its own problems. The once-around, go-for-broke tradition can be rather nihilistic. People don’t care about this world, because they are too busy “laying up treasures in heaven”. Why bother to care for the physical well-being of your fellow man when you are living only to die. To go home, to see Jesus, to receive whatever heavenly rewards you think you deserve. Or this viewpoint can inspire a hedonistic attitude of abandon. This is it, live for today for tomorrow you may die.

From personal experience, I have come to believe that the most destructive of these one-shot belief systems is the modern cult of The Book of Revelations. Think you’ve never heard of this cult? Yes you have, they refer to themselves as Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians, but since they tend to ignore the words of Christ and focus on doomsday, I would term them Rapturists. And their message can be dangerous. Here’s how: take an impressionable but normal teenager, coursing with hormones and God-given urges, tell them sex is evil except within the tightly controlled bonds of matrimony, then tell them the world is doomed and the rapture is imminent. More than likely, one of two things will happen. (1) Teenager rushes into a sexual relationship before mature enough to handle it, not wanting to miss out on getting lucky before he or she shuffles off this mortal coil or, worse, (2) Teenager (or young twenties) rushes into ill-conceived marriage, thereby ruining two lives with the possibility of ruining more. Then there are all manner of worldly pleasures to be sampled RIGHT NOW before it’s too late. This false sense of urgency doesn’t engender a lot of rational thought but can lead to a lot of heartache.

Concurrent with this is the notion that the Second Coming means never having to be sorry for what you do this planet. And there are as many interpretations of Revelations as there are people reading it. And each person is just as deadly sure that he is right and everyone else is doomed. Oh, yes, not everyone will be saved, and lots of people don’t even deserve to be saved. And since not everyone will be saved, it’s O.K. to hate them. When the focus is on Judgment Day only, condemnation replaces compassion as chief among “virtues”. Dangerous.

Reincarnation poses problems as well. How many times does a person have to go through the process to attain enough enlightenment to go on to whatever is next. I’m treading on pretty shaky ground here, as I don’t know much about Eastern Traditions. But some people I’ve known, some things I’ve experienced, make me wonder if there is not at least a type of truth in this.

I believe in karma, I’ve seen karma in action. Even the Bible talks about karma: cast your bread upon the waters, do unto others, turn the other cheek, love your neighbor. But something confuses me, do we drag our karma from one life to the next? Don’t you think babies should get a totally fresh start, a clean slate? Starting out with a balance of good karma sounds nice, but how terrible to be saddled with bad karma, carried over from the last go-round, from birth onward.

However, that would explain some people I have known. I think that everyone has that one friend, that one lost soul, how was born damaged. Not physically or mentally, nothing chromosomal here, just damaged in the soul or spirit or heart. This person probably was born with every advantage: caring parents with adequate resources, stable home life, loving friends. There might be a gilded path laid out before them, but they eschew the path and take to the woods instead, making their way as difficult and dangerous as possible. It’s hard to understand how a person from a nurturing, supportive environment would turn his back on a civilized life to become the Wild Boy of Avignon. What is the thinking here, “Curses on you, why oh why did you have to be so loving and kind? I shall destroy my life because you wouldn’t do it for me!”?

The only way I can understand such a mindset is if such a person keeps hauling around bad karma from existence to existence, like an over-due library book and the fines just keep piling up. Until one day, they find that they owe $14,ooo for Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret.

I have, or had, one such friend and will never get over worrying about him. For what, in some amorphous past life, is he doing penance? Is he doomed for all this life to walk the darkest forest, brambles tearing at his feet and hands, branches whipping his face?

Or are we all born with a portion each of damage and joy, and it is up to us to decide which portion will better serve us, here on Earth and Beyond.