Tag Archives: Injustice

Sowing Justice

Living in the Spirit
September 4, 2018

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 22:1-2,8-9, 22-23

Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
   and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed,
   for they share their bread with the poor.
Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
   or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause
   and despoils of life those who despoil them. –Proverbs 22:8-9, 22-23

We are reaping calamity and it is most often because we are sowing injustice. The word translated injustice in the above scripture may also be translated iniquity or unrighteousness*. I fear because our culture attempts to view justice objectively, which is a good thing, we may, however, lose some of the essence of justice’s connection with relationship(s). An eye for an eye could be viewed objectively as being just. When considered as it might apply to relationships one with another the phrase takes on new meaning. Meaning that asked the question: what is right?

One of my great grandfathers was hit in the head with a Minié ball during a Civil War battle which was left in his head as the surgery to remove it was deemed too dangerous. It apparently limited his vision immediately and some thirty years later he received a veteran’s pension for a full disability as the bullet had finally blinded him. This injury was considered a side effect of war, and it begs the question would he have received justice if the man who shot him were located and had his eyes removed? I did not know my great-grandfather, but my guess is while he might have held a grudge or might not have, I doubt he would have wished the same disability on anyone else. I doubt he held a grudge. He was far too busy farming and raising a family. He knew the searing pain of having his oldest son died of disease at the age of 15 and the joy of raising his other children who became successful adults. If he had held a grudge the only person, he would have hurt was himself wasting his time and talent on something that leads to nothing but inward turmoil.

Justice, righteousness is about relationship. It is by nature subjective not objective. While our legal system must function in an objective way, real justice, righteousness is about heart and God’s love. God must define the justice and righteousness we live. Our relationship with God or rightness with God is reflected in the just, righteous ways we live in relationship with others.   We can and have addressed blatant injustice through our legal system through things like the Civil Rights Act and that was a good first step but the needed reconciliation only comes when we all seek God’s righteousness and justice in the way that we live.

Prayer:  Righteous God, mold us and make us love like you in our relationships with all others. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5766.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Papa, Can You Hear Me?

Living in the Spirit
July 14, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 28:10-19a

 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’  — Genesis 28:10-15

The movie, Yentl, comes to mind when I envision Jacob alone and frightened running from the wrath his brother has for him and seeking refuge with his uncle. In Yentl, a young Jewish girl, a lover of the Torah who is not allowed to pursue it because she is female, runs from her home to become the person she knows she really is. She too was alone out under the night sky with only the light of a single candle to break the darkness. She prays in a song, Papa, can you hear me? And recognizes that the world is so much bigger now that I am alone.* While Jacob and Yentl were running for very different reasons, their experience of being alone with God was similar. In the movie, Yentl seems to address her prayer to both God and her beloved Papa who was the one who introduced her to Yahweh in the first place. Jacob is reassured in a dream that he is to continue the covenantal commitment between his grandfather, Abraham, and God. It is ironic that Jacob, a manipulator and a bit of a scoundrel, is probably escaping justice, while Yentl who has always lived within the tenets of her faith, is escaping injustice.

Justice is an embedded part of wholeness and wholeness is woven through every fiber of justice.  So our work for wholeness must be accompanied by our work for justice and our work for justice must surely include striving for wholeness.

No matter what the circumstances, I believe, we must all spend alone-time with God. The very nature of our relationship with God leads us toward or away from wholeness. Until we get in synch with God, we cannot be God’s champion of Justice.

Prayer: Papa, can you hear me? I want to be in synch with you. Make me whole as You move us ever closer to a just world. Amen. 

*From the movie Yentl: the song Papa, Can You Here Me? Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.