Well, the tribe is back from Ensenada... the experience was rich and filled with some incredible moments. More to be posted on our time there.
While there I got a few moments to read and dove into The Holy Longing. With all that has been going on with G8 and Live 8, here are a few thoughts I came across that challenged my thinking on social justice...
Social justice has to do with changing the way the world is organized so as to make a level playing field for everyone. In simple terms this means that social justice is about trying to organize the economic, political, and social structure of the world in such a way so that it values equally each individual and more properly values the environment. Accomplishing this will take more that private charity. Present injustices exist not so much because simple individuals are acting in bad faith or lacking in charity but because huge impersonal systems (that seem beyond the control of the individuals acting within them) disprivilege some even as they unduly privilege others. [p. 170]
One does not walk away from the Sermon on the Mount or the challenge Jesus gave to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give of our lives and resources to those less fortunate than oursleves with a clear conscience. Thus, the fuel that fires our quest for justice must be drawn from the same source as the truth of justice itself, namely, from the person and teaching of Jesus. Only by rooting ourselves there, or in similar principles that somehow take root in God, will we find both the right vision and the right energy to offer a new order, a just one, to the world. [p. 174]
[The story of creation] affirms that God made all people equal in dignity and rights; that the earth and everything in it belongs equally to everyone; that all human beings, equally, are co-responsible with God in helping to protect the dignity of everybody and everything; and that the physical earth itself has rights and needs to be respected in and of itself, and not just as a stage for human activity.
The quality of our faith depends upon the character of justice in the land and the character of justice is to be measured by how we treat three groups - widows, orphans, and foreigners (those with the least status in society). Thus, for the Jewish prophets, our standing with God depends upon where we stand with the poor and no private faith or piety, be they ever so pure and sincere, can soften that edict. [p. 175]
Powerful. Convicting. Motivating. Haunting.
Welcome back. Glad to hear you had some time to relax and read. Can't wait to hear more about your trip.
Posted by: Stephanie | July 06, 2005 at 12:50 PM