Sunday, October 19, 2008

Working for justice: take the long view

The work of creating new space, the job of crafting new systems that allow for the renewal or resurrection of the poor must assume a long, patient view of reality. We face power differentials that cannot be overcome over night. We walk the long road here. We get discouraged, but we never give up. We refuse to turn aside. We commit to the long haul. We cannot come and go. We stay put.

The following two statements get at the heart of the proposition we have embraced. I saw them positioned side-by-side on Sojo.net, the email service of Sojourners magazine and community.

Good words for this Sunday. Solid wisdom for the long walk ahead of us.
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I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor.
- Psalm 140:12

Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. - Martin Luther King Jr.

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMonday, October 20, 2008 at 9:02:00 AM CDT

    I, too, read the MLK quote at the Sojourners site. I needed it in the face of large swaths of apathy and antipathy in our world.

    Jeff W

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  2. AnonymousMonday, October 20, 2008 at 11:25:00 AM CDT

    "The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!' "

    John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

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