I have justice on the brain. But that's my problem. God wants my sense of justice to move about eight inches south: to my heart. Someone once said that eight inches is the longest distance on earth. It's hard for us to get out of our heads to feel and act from our hearts.
It seems other people have this problem too. Justice is in our heads, when it should be in our hearts. Justice is about abstract concepts, when it should be about compassion for living, breathing people.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said justice is love. "Justice is love correcting that which would work against love." Dr. King had the power to place issues of inequality in theological context, to make civil rights a spiritual issue. Like Jesus, he connected heart, mind and spirit. He knew that every major social change begins with a moral transformation.
Our 2020 vision statement says we are moving beyond charity to change structures of injustice.
At First United we talk a lot about how to work for justice and we think a lot about where to begin. We do a lot every day to bring God's kingdom to earth. Today, on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I want to spend a few minutes praying for justice, from my heart. Because when God changes my heart, I find it's a lot easier to change my mind.
P.S. The next mission trip to rebuild New Orleans will leave Chicago Feb. 27-Mar. 6, 2011. Start praying now about whether you can be part of the trip. It begins with a journey of just eight inches.
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