How strong is the dam that humanity has constructed to stop justice flowing? Did we think we could keep justice like a reservoir of water, sipping from it selfishly while the fish below gasp for moisture? Or did we fail to recognise it as justice? So often we seem unable to see the elephant in the room, the skeletons in the cupboard, the starving child on our pavement. And i include myself in that judgment of course. Faith should be the springboard to acting justly in the world but instead it often seems to act as a curtain that i draw across myself so that i can worship in peace, away from images of the harsh reality of the world beyond me.
The photo is of a street in San Antonio, Texas. I was waiting for a bus in the middle of the day with the sun shining harshly, temperatures up to 90 F and no shade. Buses are infrequent but cheap, they are slow but air-conditioned, they are used by the poor, the dispossessed. In Texas if you don't have a car it can take 2 hours to complete a journey which would otherwise only take 20 minutes and it's not advisable to walk - it's too hot and there are patchy sidewalks; if you can't afford smart clothes, a good haircut, deodorant you won't get a job; if you don't work and you fall ill you can easily end up on the streets or living in the woods reduced to stealing from households to stay alive. And who are these people? They are you and me but for the grace of God. Where is the justice in it being someone else and not me? I am no better than those who are poor, homeless, uneducated - i have no rights to the privileges i have in life...
How can i create a rule of life that engages me fully with the world and still gives me space to breathe, rest and be nourished? That's what i'm trying to work on just now... Will you pray with me?
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