Moments along the arc of the universe

"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

Those were the words of Theodore Parker, theologian and abolitionist, as part of an 1850 treatise. These words that were so profound, so compelling, that their echoes could be heard in in the underlying tenants of Abraham Lincoln's epic address at Gettysburg.

Words that were so powerful that, a century later, Martin Luther King Jr. paraphrased them in 1967, when vowing that the fight for civil rights would never be lost. He repeated, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Indeed, the arc of the universe is forever bending; always toward justice.

Call it karma, if you will. Call it cosmic. But it's infinitely more powerful than you - and any way you may foolishly try to redirect your soul and its destiny.

Along the arc of the universe, your soul is measured. The decisions you make are magnetizing; your destiny is mapped. The bright, pinpoint light of your soul in the universe is pulled by an inescapable gravity. It speeds along the arc, ever heading towards justice.

To stop it, you might as well be a space cowboy, riding a meteor while throwing bottled messages for help at passing stars. Messages that will never be read as you ride toward justice.

Our world has endured times of inexplicable and disturbing injustice. Like the dark, bleak days of World War II. Then, philosopher Albert Camus reminded us that tragedy should not give us despair. That we would recover, heal, and bend back toward normalcy - and justice. While he didn't speak of the arc, he knew it.

He knew that despite the tragedy, despite the darkness, despair would not frame the future. That in the end, the bend of the arc would prevail.

There are moments in time when are made to believe that it is ours to deserve happiness, that it is ours to define justice. That we are entitled to create the bounds of righteousness. But we would be sadly, cosmically mistaken.

Go ahead, call it karma. But it's a powerful, insurmountable cosmic black hole of justice. Perhaps, even, the Hand of God.

Every holy religion - Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism and others - espouses the basic tenants of justice. The Buddhist teachings say, "Hurt not others with that which pains yourself or in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. One should seek for others the happiness one desires for one's self."

There are key moments in the timeline of our lives, along the arc, when we are faced with choices: faith or infidelity, honesty or duplicity, happiness or suffering, affirmation or hurt, truth or manipulation. Love or hate.

In those moments, stop. Seek for others the happiness that you would desire for yourself. Choose justice.

Because, despite any illusion you may have over the control of your destiny and your soul, your cosmic self rides the arc toward justice.

And with justice, karma.