Why Do Bad Things Happen to Bad People?

If, as I believe, everything has a cause and everything has an effect, then how can we even ask the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer is exactly the same as if we were to ask "Why do bad things happen to bad people?"

Why are we even judging what is bad and what is good? Why are we even judging who is bad and who is good? Hasn't everyone had one of those experiences of horrible utter frustration when some great plan didn't work out only to find out much later that it was their saving grace. I have many such examples both little and huge. Like when I broke my hip and had to cancel my plans to walk the Camino     in Spain. Later, I knew that it really hadn't been the right time. I had probably had hints of that, but I was too committed to my plan to listen.

John Gardner used to say the old saw that when God wants to speak to you, first he whispers, then he yells, then he hits you over the head with a sledge hammer. Oops. At the same time it is utterly comforting to carry the thought that your angels, your god, your higher self will watch out for you. JG also mentioned that if you are a sincere person with good intentions and you merrily set out on the wrong path, your angels will find a way to get you back on the right path. Like a broken hip, for instance. That worked.

That life experience of John Gardner was predicated on the basis of having pure intention. That is, I expect, one of the requisites of transforming old bad karma. When something 'bad' happens to you, it is worth looking at. Can it be that there is a good reason for your flu? Maybe you needed to slow down. Maybe you needed to have more sympathy for ill people. Quien Sabe?  At the same time, take some quiet time to contemplate what might have been the cause of your discomfort. The karmic cause. If people are talking ill of you, have you defamed someone else? If $ isn't flowing to you, have you taken $ from someone else? If you can start to appreciate the causes then you can change them. You can only speak good about others.

Rudolf Steiner gave an example of this when he was suggesting that spiritual seekers do exercises to strengthen their spiritual muscles. He spoke of coming upon a dead dog on a walk. The animal was badly mangled and looked awful. Steiner, instead of saying the obvious and engaging in the ugliness, remarked on what beautiful teeth the animal had. Something like that, anyway. He made good karma for people speaking well of him. He strengthened his spiritual muscles.

Who are we to know why things happen to others? We can, however, learn why things happen to us and try to make the changes to create good karma . We all want this. Every major religion gives the stepping stones.

Aside from the timing thing of walking the Camino, the greatest gift to me was learning to be helpless and accept love from those who were piling it on me. It was a huge gift.