2/09/18
“Another form of this ripe karma is where some past evil-thinking has made a crust of evil habits around a man which imprisons him and makes an evil life; the actions are the inevitable outcome of his past, as just explained, and they have been held over, even through several lives, in consequence of those lives not offering opportunities for their manifestation.
Meanwhile the soul has been growing and has been developing noble qualities.
In one life this crust of past evil is thrown out by opportunity, and because of this the soul cannot show his later developments; like a chicken, ready to be hatched, he is hidden within the imprisoning shell, and only the shell is visible to the external eye.
After a time that karma is exhausted, and some apparently fortuitous event – a word from a great Teacher, a book, a lecture – breaks the shell and the soul comes forth free.
These are the rare, sudden, but permanent “conversions”, the “miracles of divine grace”, of which we hear; all perfectly intelligible to the lower of karma, and falling within the realm of law.”
Annie Besant
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 