I did an Internet search for the meaning of karma . Most of the results had the same basic definition - cause and effect. You control the outcome by your actions, temporally and even eternally. At face value, there is a small grain of truth to this. If I live heedlessly beyond my means, there are serious consequences for my actions. I will run out of money and be impoverished. But I could be very frugal and save as much as I can. What if the stock market and banks collapse as they did in the 1920s? My frugality will not overcome the bad decisions of both people and institutions. My responsible actions don't have the power to overcome the irresponsibility of others especially those who wield more power and authority to begin with. Thus simplistic cause and effect doesn't take other players and forces into account. Job's friends fell into karma-like thinking. To them, Job's suffering was obviously the result of something he did that displeased God. Therefore, the ...