I’m guessing that the previous post might have been a turn-off. Things like wonder, love, grace, and grief can be very personal and they can seem within our control, so to speak. At the most, they involve our relationship with another person or thing. But justice opens the door to larger and some potentially threatening things like judgment and evil. Not your nice dinner table conversation. But, does that mean they aren’t real? As real as all of these other features of life we find so compelling or demanding of our attention?

We left off with me saying we have a choice between two things. Then, I modified that to three.

Let’s pick up there.

The first choice is whether we think it’s even important to think about this stuff or not. Of course, we can choose not to think about it. I spoke briefly about that option.

The second choice assumes we’ve determined that at least some of this stuff is worth thinking about. In that case, we need to ask questions about things like good, bad, right, and wrong. Most people at least accept this as reasonable.

The third choice, assuming we’ve decided to examine these things is whether we truly want to discover whether our lives have meaning or not. And, I believe, there is no middle ground here. We either move in the direction of ultimate meaning or in the direction of ultimate meaninglessness. I can’t honestly find a middle ground. I know. I tried for decades.

So where does this leave us with the concept of Justice? By the way, there is good news at the end of this! Wait until we get to Mercy! 🙂

But, it’s time to plow more ground and see what springs up. All is not fertile. Rocks and weeds abound. To carry the metaphor further, in many places proper nutrients are in very short supply.

Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that this is what we have to work with. We can go about our business, blithely choosing to ignore suffering and injustice around us or we can open our eyes and our hearts to some stark realities of life. We can choose to build walls and fortresses to keep us out of the muck or we can engage with the realities of the human condition and choose to do something about it.

(As an aside, probably the hardest thing to do is to look inward to find the places inside our own life, psyche, and behavior while we point fingers at others. I intend to come back to this at some point.)

What do we see when we open our eyes to the realities of the human condition? Oh my. Enormous poverty and suffering. Brutal persecution on both small and large scales. Sickness. Desperation. Despair. Depravity. Need I go on? Love blossoms, then too frequently is snuffed out. Happiness is fleeting as we face burdens that bend us.

Once again, we can build walls and pursue our own lives, especially living in the west with our enormous wealth and privilege. We can watch the news and say “that just isn’t right!” We can demand that our government officials do a much better job of addressing these problems as sides square off to try to deal with their magnitude.

Or, we can take a breath and try to consider what justice really is all about and what control, if any, we have in this whole thing.

Bluntly, do we choose to stay on the sidelines as bystanders or do we choose to engage in this muck?

In all honesty, I can’t see any choice but to engage. Not if the concept of justice is real and that there are such things as good and bad, right and wrong.

One way to address this is to start at a personal level.

When we are wronged, there is a cost. It’s called suffering. We hurt. We naturally want payback. We want “redress for grievances.” This is the basis of our legal system and for western civilization. Why do we want redress? Because, as I mentioned in the previous post, we’re hardwired with a sense of justice.

We want criminal acts prosecuted and perpetrators “brought to justice!” We want people who take advantage of us financially in devious ways to pay us back and if they don’t, we take them in front of the system to “enforce justice.” We want billionaires who live their lives in palaces and on super yachts to at least give some of the wealth they’ll never spend to support those less fortunate. “It’s only right!” We want people who have wronged us to admit they’ve wronged us.

And, we want brutal dictators to stop the slaughter, the inhumane treatment of people under their power. “Can’t someone do something about this?”

We want money to go to causes that fight against the darker side of human life: Poverty, sickness, abuse. Most of us don’t actually like taxes but we understand that there are costs to be paid in order to have a society that functions … a society that mitigates suffering and offers the means for hope.

There are costs to be paid to bring balance.

Are we thinking of all the ways to pay those costs? Are we thinking about ways to cease to be bystanders? Are we willing to dig into that soil to remove the rocks and weeds and to find the nutrients the soil so desperately needs?

If my life actually has meaning, what is my part in all of this?

Lots of questions. I’ll try to take a shot at answering.

If you’re reading these things, I guess that you agree that life has meaning. (Unless you’re enjoying these writings as a kind of academic exercise to see where it leads.)

If life has meaning, then what is a “life well lived?”

I have to say that a life well lived is a life that seeks out injustice and tries to stamp it out. I believe this strongly.

Now, this is not easy and creates all sorts of problems and disagreements as to what that looks like. All sorts of directions that are destructive in their own right. But, that does not excuse us from taking this on. We want it for ourselves when it happens to us. We should want it equally for others when it happens to them.

One common method we westerners use is to throw money at situations. This is not bad, as money in the right places can do great good. But, money can also be used inappropriately and has its limits.

Diane and I give money and are happy to do so. I’m not saying that to boast or appear noble. We’re far from it! Some people give substantial portions of their income to support the victims of circumstances that just don’t seem right. Diane and I have our charities that we believe sincerely change lives for the better. Some are facilitated through our church and some are not. Churches get a bad rap for so many reasons, existing as they do in an increasingly secular world. But churches raise huge sums of money from people who already pay their taxes, in order to go into desperate places to relieve suffering.

Yes, says the cynic, but what about all of those scandals? Well, of course, there are scandals. There are scandals in churches, schools, and government. In businesses and organizations of all stripes. But, that does not dissuade us from choosing to spend a portion of our wealth in places where suffering is keen.

Yes, money can help even the scales. Turn bad into good. Help right the wrongs. But money is just one way and, unfortunately, can mask our hearts and dull our eyes.

Money can lead us down a path that says that we don’t have to get our hands dirty. Either the problems are too big for someone so small as I or I don’t have the skills or time to deal with them personally.

No, justice demands our personal attention. The cost must be paid and we need to be available to help pay it.

Just as justice is implanted into us, so too do we have the means for carrying it out. And, I’m not talking Dirty Harry. Well, maybe just a little. 🙂

Here’s where it gets interesting. We come to another crossroads. One particular direction can seem to overwhelm. Where do we even begin?

If we arrive at a point where we believe the only truly moral position is to engage in justice somehow, then we need to figure out the best way. Bluntly, there’s no way to do it without getting our hands dirty. After all, it’s metaphorical soil we’re talking about. Bemoaning injustice, absent action, doesn’t reflect the behavior of an honest person. And, arriving at this conviction, we are left with options. First, we can support causes, either by money or ballot box, that reflect our beliefs. Both of these are good, so long as we do our due diligence to ensure our participation is warranted.

The second option is to get involved. Actually do something to battle injustice that requires specific action. In other words, stop being a bystander or just delegating responsibility to some organization or government.

OK. Let’s say we accept that justice is a good thing and that we should participate in good and to try to stem or defeat bad. Then, we accept that we have a role to play and that supporting causes that fight injustice is something we should probably do. We have the means and it’s just a question of priorities. And, let’s say, we determine that it has a priority, wherever that may lie. Then, we hear a voice that says we may have some personal responsibility beyond money or voting. It might be a good idea if we paid enough attention to actually doing something. What would that look like?

I have two suggestions. One is to get involved in an effort that engages in the community in some way. And, by community, that can mean being very close to home or in the region. Some effort that focuses on brokenness and seeks to bring healing. The key is to consider our gifts and talents and to apply them in ways that help others. Remarkably, we are the ones blessed through this, although that is not our intention! The second way is for us to apply this perspective in all aspects of our daily lives. So, what does that look like?

This is an area where I feel I’ve been growing substantially in the last ten years. It’s also an area that is probably the most difficult for most of us. It’s one thing (a good thing) to give our money and votes, even occasional or regular participation in an effort to help a particular group. It’s another thing to wake up each morning and to be open to the brokenness, distress and injustice that just appears every day. And, it does. Every day. It can be big or it can be very subtle.

This is where I feel we really get down into that soil because now it’s personal and immediate. It requires changing the way we view others, the world around us and (most importantly) ourselves.

And, this brings us to our last set of options in this post.

The first is to be very aware of how people behave in our surroundings. Are we attune to places where the people we are in contact with on a daily basis are suffering or hurting? Where people treat others poorly? And, if aware, what do we do about it? Do we say, “not my problem?” Maybe it’s inappropriate to intervene. But, we need to ask ourselves is that the case? Do we see bullying? Do we see brokenness? Are we too busy?

The second is to be self-aware. Is my behavior designed to heal or to wound? Am I going out of my way to encourage the people who I meet? Who I work or live with? Do I know what pains them? What is causing them to be anxious? Do I pause in kindness during a conversation with a stranger?

Now, we are deep down in the soil.

Why, it might be asked, am I linking this to justice? Because it’s all tied to love. If love is willing the good of another … not just thinking about it, but willing it, then justice is weighting the scales to balance against broken places, hurt places, hollow places … places where darkness and even evil reside.

Justice is a matter of the heart as well as the mind. Is my heart soft and open? This does not mean passivity. On the contrary, it’s a battle and takes strength and determination.

To recap: This is all about how we respond to the knowledge that there are rights and wrongs in this world. How do we respond with awareness? How do we respond with conviction? How do we act as agents of justice? How do we participate in restoration? Are we willing to step out of comfort zones and prioritizing all of our own needs against the needs of others?

Evil dwells in the hearts and minds of people who are blinded to what is just and good. It serves its own master and sets us one against another. It divides us and tells us that we are the thing that truly matters, no matter the consequences for others. Our needs must triumph. They are supreme.

The great 18th century Irish philosopher Edmund Burke is attributed as saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”

If we accept this as true, as I do, then we must choose. And, if we choose to fight evil in both large and small places, we are called to action. That action can include sharing our wealth, our time, and talents. It must also include being open to our surroundings to notice the plight of others, to encourage others, to be an agent of love and healing. And, it must include an interior examination about our own behaviors. After all, judgment is a two-way street … something we will explore next time.

There are days I struggle with this and days I just feel blessed to be a part of the solution. It does me no good to wallow in self-incrimination, as in, “Am I really doing everything I can?” I have found that to lead into an unhealthy place. After all, this set of issues is just a piece of life. I have written widely on so many others.

None of this is easy. None of it is safe. But it is good.

Lord, thank you for opening our eyes to the realities of this world. Thank you for giving us the eyes to see, the hearts to feel and the hands to do the work that needs to be done. We understand that the soil is our lives … the lives of all of us. We understand that much of that soil is populated with weeds and rocks and even barrenness. On the other hand, we have a sense of what it’s like to methodically move those rocks, pull those weeds, open up space, and layer in the stuff of life. Help us to make this a priority. Help us to tip the scales. Help us to love. Amen.