Jacob Hamm posts:

Ok, here's two more cents on Karma.

IMHO, there is a balence between free will and karma/fate/will of god.
Be that as it may, the only one of the two which we seem to any control
over is free will, so I do not worry over *why* the other catagory
happens.  May be I will get hit by a thermal nuclear device tomarrow
because of my past sins, Maybe I'll get hit because of my past virtues!
There is a story about a man, his son and a horse, which give my view
of karma.

An old man and his son work a farm at the edge of a village.  One day
the old man found a horse which was running free.  The other villagers
were very impressed by this good fortune and congradulated him on the
merit he had accumulated in previous lives. Later, his son was trying
to break the horse to saddle and it through him.  His leg was badly broken
and had to be set.  Because the old man did not have his son to help 
him, his crops began to suffer.  Now, the villagers revised there 
opinions.  Obviously the horse had been sent to punish the old man
for his previous sins.  Shortly there after, there was a war.  The
local war lord came through the village and impressed everyone's
sons into his army.  Every one that is except the old man's son,
whose leg was still broken. ...