The Universe Bends Towards Justice

Seeing the good and believing in a Benevolent Universe does not mean you deny that great harm is being done in the world. We know that there are hate crimes, genocides, and war. In the face of such events, it’s natural to feel upset, powerless, confused, devastated, even fearful. But it’s also possible to find faith and personal power. You always have a choice.

 

People in pain often act out their suffering on others. However, the world itself, the composite of all life, is striving for wholeness and committed to justice. Theodore Parker, American transcendentalist, and Unitarian minister, spoke to this point eloquently: “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. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

 

You can trust that bigger-picture inequalities are being worked out. Deep lessons are being learned. Long-term consequences of previous actions are being worked through. What we sow, we reap. What goes around, comes around. In the East, this is called karma, and it is welcomed when you are committed to spiritual growth.

 

Both the hurtful and helpful acts come back to us, eventually. And not necessarily as directly as you might imagine. The players may change, but the energy is congruent. If you betray someone, you may later be betrayed. If you judge someone’s character, you may later manifest that very attribute you judged. If you offer a stranger a helping hand, you’ll receive support at some point, too—perhaps when least expected but most needed.

While the Universe is quite accurately playing out the law of action and reaction, you have the opportunity to take responsibility for yourself—what you think, feel, and do in the world—and even change the circumstances with positive intent.

 

Viktor E. Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, offers this helpful advice: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing . . . to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. . . to change ourselves.”

Have you been transformed by the traumas in your world? I know I have. Unexpected disruptions, a broken heart, financial downturns, health challenges, confrontational foes, and petty tyrants have all blessed my life with life lessons that took me down and brought me back up again. Over time, I saw that many of the radical changes were indeed important course corrections of my character, not detours or delays after all. 

When you look for the silver lining, you will find it. 

You could discover a greater strength, more resourcefulness, an impulse to contribute to a cause, a compassionate shift in your perspective—any number of qualities that could benefit you and others. It may be years later when the light bulb goes off and sheds light on the reason for a past experience.

While you can’t make up for the hatred or hurtful deeds of others—that is something that they have to do for themselves— you can trust that the scales of justice will equalize all doings in time. 

What you can do is trust in your personal power and ability to contribute to a better world with acts of kindness, empathy, and sacred activism. This is truly the only place where you can make a significant change, and because we are all connected, as described in the theory of quantum entanglement, your change will affect the whole in some positive way.  

 

 

“You are not complacent; you are an instrument of life’s benevolence, a conduit for awakening and positive change.”