Rewarded kindness

Here is a true story about my mother in-law's grandmother's good karma (what goes around really does come around!). This story is an excerpt from my book, When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance and Planetary Survival:

My mother in-law, J, Jussen, told me the following story: Orphaned at the age of five, Jackie was raised by her grandmother on a remote coffee plantation on the island of Java, Indonesia. Living far from any sizable community, her grandmother relied on natural herbal medicines. When a neighbor's son was deathly ill with malaria, Jackie's grandmother used her herbs to nurse him back to health. The neighbor was a Japanese immigrant and presented her with the gift of a kimono, which bore the seal of a powerful Japanese family.

Years later, during the World War II Japanese occupation of Java, civilians were forbidden to listen to the radio. All radios were registered with the state and fitted with official seals to indicate whether the radio had been used.

Jackie's grandmother broke the seal on her radio so she could hear foreign news. When officials discovered the broken seal, she was ordered to appear in court. To maintain order and obedience, Japanese wartime justice was typically cruel and swift. Infractions, such as breaking the seal on the radio, usually resulted in a public beheading in the square immediately after sentencing.

As her grandmother prepared to leave for the court hearing, an inner voice told her to wear the kimono. When the magistrate saw the seal of a royal family on her kimono, he asked her how she had come to own this kimono. Upon hearing her story, he reprimanded her, but spared her life.

This story is to remind you to ignore the adage "No good deed goes unpunished", and realize that most acts of kindness are rewarded. It is just that sometimes the rewards are hidden and revealed. May you be blessed with revealed blessings.