Faith Venture

I had developed two core principles before I had made it to high school. I am not sure why given where I was born. Stories of violence and hatred toward black people in the US South deeply affected me. Therefore, the justice part. Since this was prior to Viet Nam, the peace part must have come through teachings of John Wesley in my Methodist church. Or stories of my Seventh-Day Baptist preacher uncles.

Our country has declared yet another unofficial (not authorized by Congress) war. I’m glad I was never in the position to make decisions to kill thousands of people in the name of peace. It’s like my pacifist leanings toward any violence. The mother of a girl I used to talk with decades ago used probe at what point would I resort to violence in order to protect myself or another. I wrestle with that question some 60 years later.

I pray for peace. I cannot stop the bombing. I cannot stop the hatred and egos and power yearnings of others. I can act with kindness spreading peace and justice where I am. 

I will do what I can letting the egos and hatred of others play out into their own destructions. I feel great sorrow when I sit and consider the many places where bombs are falling on innocent people and soldiers are sent to the front to their deaths.

This is my personal meditation. You consider your own fears and concerns making your own decisions. I don’t tell people what to think or do. I merely try to reflect the teachings of Jesus that have so deeply infused my being.

I have a small international readership. If you are somewhere protecting your homeland from destruction, my prayers are with you.

Today in the United States we recognize the work and person of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even though I lived where there were no black people and similarly there were no black people in my university as far as I can recall, the civil rights movement captivated me. I had read stories of the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings and cross burnings as a youngster. I was deeply affected. I can remember lying awake on some nights wondering if some local KKK would discover I was a closet believer in rights for black people and surround our house.

Of course, that was never a threat in the north with no black people around. But some of the local people had joy teasing me about following MLK in the late 60s.

King took lessons from Gandhi in India going about working for change in a peaceful manner. That appealed to my personality.

King was correct in his analysis that few seem to remember. He affected much change in society as we began to change laws that specifically discriminated. But he also talked of the need to change people’s hearts. He knew as a Christian pastor how difficult, yet essential, that is.

Many things are much improved in America following that time. Yet, many human hearts remain closed and biased.

That’s a human thing, not just an American one. I’ve seen looks and subtle comments on trips to Germany (where I speak a little bit of the language). I’ve experienced it elsewhere in many countries.

We have so far to go as seekers of peace and justice to show people how to live with kindness, humility, empathy, justice. 

In the end, we must see hearts change. “I have a dream…”

Check out Abraham, Martin, and John by Dion.

Justice, it seems, isn’t about punishment or vengeance or getting even. It’s about restoration, wholeness, setting things right.

I am neither liberal nor conservative. Most people call me liberal, but that is not my orientation. My life direction concerns peace and justice. These attributes go along with each other.

Rich Dixon, who wrote those sentences on his blog about “Rich’s Ride” with a focus on justice for those caught up in sex trade and forced labor, resonates.

There are people who use justice, as in getting justice, meaning achieving vengeance. As in “getting even.” 

I like Rich’s thought that it’s not about getting even or protecting my “rights.” Justice concerns setting things right. Returning to the way we should be. The way God created us all to be.

This sounds like how Jesus always raised the bar on people’s understanding of the Law. Committing adultery might be bad, but lusting after another person while committed to another is also bad. It’s a higher bar. Obeying all the commandments might be good, but selling all you own and following Jesus is a higher bar.

Getting our own justice might be one thing, but working for justice for the other is a higher bar. And Jesus always wanted us to strive for the higher bar.

Pray for peace; work for justice—for all.