On my high horse: a sermon

Why does the idea of karma or "the law of attraction" keep coming back again and again, like a bad penny?

Just because you are good doesn't guarantee that good things will happen to you. In fact, some of the best people on earth (Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi) have been treated the worst.

If we want to be happy, we do good things because they are the right thing to do, because we want to do our part to make this world a better place. Then we let go of any expectations.

Imagining good things for yourself is fine. Clarifying your goals and working toward them is great. Expecting that you can order stuff from the universe like a catalog - like one guy in "The Secret" says - is one of the stupider things I have ever heard.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to jerks?

Because here is the Secret Law of Life, my friends: stuff happens. Then some other stuff happens. Good stuff, bad stuff. No guarantees.

All we can do is hedge our bets by using the skills and knowledge we have been given to keep ourselves and our loved ones as safe as possible.

The only thing we can really ever control is how we look at what falls our way. I hope your outlook is good today, no matter what happens.