When my son arrived at his friend's house, his cell phone rang. He didn't pick it up figuring that he was already there and would see his friend in a second. However, nobody was home. He called for his cell phone messages and his friend said, "Call me right back." He didn't say, "sorry, we had to leave," or, "we're here if you want to catch up with us on the road." My son called back but his friend didn't answer. He called and I called the house to see if they were still home. No answer. My son finally called another friend who was with the group, and was able to reach his friend. They had left because his parents decided they couldn't wait any longer for my son. They didn't have the courtesy or responsibility to call and let anyone know they were leaving. They did not let us know of a cut-off time. They did not leave a note for my son at their house. Now these are parents who are big time professionals. They know the importance of their son getting together with my son, and yet they didn't care.

Luckily, my other son took his brother to his friend's house and was nearby in case he needed something. My sons came back home, upset, hurt, disappointed, confused. I was furious. How dare they do this to my son? What if their son had a friend who abandoned him after making plans and expecting to get together? We talked about what happened and if there could have been some misunderstandings. No, there weren't. His friend and his family screwed up and their actions were unjustified and inexcusable to me. They don't get it.

I talked with my son about karma (in this case we can also say it's carma) and that his friend's family is going to have karmic payback. We had hoped that the shuttle would not land in California, thereby making the trip to see it land a waste of time. And that's exactly what happened. My son was home, we watched the shuttle landing (from the cockpit view on NASA televison), while all his friend (family and other friends in tow) saw was holiday traffic. My son was glad he didn't end up going, of course.

Later that night, my son's friend's father called me up responding to a voice message I left them while they were on the road. He apologized and tried to justify their leaving, but it didn't matter to me because nothing could justify it. You don't do that to people, not to minors, not to your child's best friend, not when you know they're already on the road to your house and you don't bother to let them know you have to leave. My son and I talked about it again and we just knew that karma was going to hit them real soon. We smiled. We didn't have to do anything about it, either. There was a lesson for this family to learn and we could feel it coming.

This past week this same family had their motor home stolen from in front of their house, in broad daylight. They had planned to travel cross-country in it. Now it's gone. That was a forewarning that something was out of balance with them and they missed the message in that. They also were not in touch with their intuition ahead of time so that the theft would not have taken place.

We had a little pleasure, I must admit, in hearing that they never saw the shuttle landing, even on television. They never made it to Edwards. They stopped one exit short of the base because they heard that the shuttle was landing in Florida. So, their experience was traffic jams and missed opportunities. They didn't understand that being with friends on the journey might be more important than the destination.

Yesterday, my son's best friend (same guy) had planned to go to a school meeting in another city - about a 40 minute drive for him from home. Turns out he got to the place only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. He was last on the call list and didn't get the message in time. So back home he drove.

If that isn't nearly instant karma, I don't know what is. Karma is a rebalancing of something out of balance. It is a perception, and often a lesson to be learned. By that family running out on my son, being selfish, in a hurry, not caring about feelings, the universe sent them the same, and more. Have they learned a lesson? I really don't know, yet, but I sort of doubt it. They're not really into higher consciousness. But more and more of such experiences will one day get them to start thinking differently, I guarantee it. They will want to know what's going on and why. When they start to examine their actions that were without integrity, and how it came back to them, they will understand. Right now, my son and I smile because we DO understand what's going on, and we will continue to watch it play itself out for that family.

As for our side of this karmic event, I wasn't keen on my son going to Edwards. However, he wanted to go and be with his friend, and my son has to make his own decisions, so I supported him. He might do his own inner work to discover if there were any whispers or warnings he might have received about going with his friend. He is often psychic, and maybe now he'll learn how to fine-tune his own intuition a little better. FYI, he and his friend are still friends and saw a movie together today. My son decided he won't hold a grudge. That's wise, because that creates a negative energy and a block. He received his apologies, they made amends, he feels good and isn't carrying any baggage from this - and that's the main thing. I will not trust the boy's parents again.

When events seem to go haywire in our lives, we can easily and safely start to pay attention, use our higher consciousness, and look for the deeper meaning behind these events. In this way, we can avoid danger, and greater understanding of our choices and their consequences. We can rebalance the situation in our inner world first, and then in the outer world by taking responsibility. That can stop the karmic backlash from continuing. We realize that what we put out always comes back to us. And, then we can make better choices next time so that what we put out "there" comes back "here" in a loving, compassionate, and integrated way.