Not-quite Instant Karma

Occasionally, we hear people judge God. Actually what they are doing is judging God on the basis of things that take place on earth. They will claim that God must not exist because innocent children suffer or they will claim that God is irresponsible because there are clearly horrible things going on. The fact is, most people say these kinds of things not because they are looking for a meaningful conversation but rather to offer a veiled excuse for not taking their own faith more seriously.

But for the sake of those who might actually raise such questions in good faith, I want to share a story. But before I do, I need to offer a little context and a few caveats. First, things like the Holocaust or Rwanda or the history of slavery in America are complex and frightful matters. They involve not only the reality of human sin but also the evils of secular structures like nation-states and economic ambitions. Second, the story I am about to tell is trivial and silly. It is in no way meant to be equated with the kind complexity and urgency involved with real human suffering. Rather, I offer it precisely because it is so small and silly and therefore, safe. If we can perhaps see God or at least signs of God’s nearness in tiny things, then it seems to me we can be more assured that God is very near to what we might call big things.

I bowl on Wednesday nights. This is after our regular mid-week meal and programming here at Saint Francis. Though most of the folks in the league know that I am a pastor, no one attends the church so it serves as an opportunity to wind-down and decompress. My teammates are a Korean couple, Young and Chung, and a friend named, John who has a healthy understanding of people and the world in which we live. They are all great. We always have fun and generally bowl well enough so as not to embarrass ourselves.

Last night we were bowling a team that has been doing very well. We won the first game and were mid-way through the second when Chung lost her balance while throwing her first ball in the fourth frame. She didn’t fall but she did step forward into the right gutter. Meanwhile, the ball hit for a strike. Chung was excited but as she made her way back from the alley, I could already see that the opposing team was not going to let this stand. Officially, stepping over the line, even into the gutter, is a foul. Two of the bowlers on the opposing team wanted to ignore the infraction as did John and I. After all, this is a fun league and the woman just threw a strike! But the other two bowlers saw that it might change the outcome of the game and as they understood it, a rule was a rule… So I had the joy of explaining that her strike would not count and that she would have to throw a second ball. Meanwhile, the opposing team captain corrected the score. Afterwards, I walked to the table and almost at the same time John and I said the word “Karma.”

Chung is about the sweetest person you could meet—if that reference is still acceptable. She is always respectful and cheerful and you cannot help but hope that things will fall her way. And they don’t always. But John and I both sort of sensed that this time they might…We ended up winning the second game as well.

Then came the third game. None of us were bowling very well and we ended up being down by over 50 pins in the tenth frame. The opposing team bowled well extending the lead a bit further but Chung and I still had a chance and we were both working on a strike in the ninth. Chung then threw what appeared to be a perfect shot but rather than a strike, it turned out to be a split. She was unable to make the spare. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed wrong. I am no Karma expert but it seemed to me that she should have at least had a chance to make it close—but a split???

Anyway, I got up to throw the last frame of the night. At this point, the opposing team was finished and I figured that they were well out of reach. My first ball was a solid strike—fun, because it seemed to send a message of what might have been… But my second ball was another strike. I heard a cheer in the back but I honestly didn’t know the score. My third ball was a final strike with the seven-pin wobbling and then falling with the rest. I walked back to John’s outstretched hand. We had won the third game by a single pin.

Now I am capable of throwing three strikes in the tenth frame. I’ve done it before although certainly not often—and certainly not to win a game by a single pin. In other words, this might be considered nothing more than a cheesy, self-aggrandizing story. And you are welcome to take it that way, I guess. But that’s not the way it felt. John and I wanted to see our opponents pay for needlessly hurting our friend—not a lot—we certainly didn’t want anyone to get hurt but we did want to see Chung vindicated. And truth be told… that was just about right. You could see the look on the faces of the two guys…A rule is a rule, I guess, even in God’s sometimes mysterious sense of justice…