the Glocal Trekker Blog

In one of the countries I was in this past year, I passed one of their court buildings. Outside, there was a crowd gathered as an old lady tried to force her way beyond the front gate and get closer to the building. I couldn't understand the language so didn't know what was happening. She was alone--at least it appeared that way. Did her son, husband, daughter, or friend do something bad? Or, were they a victim of injustice? Some people were laughing and pointing. Some people were very somber-faced and concerned. The person I respected the most was the guard who was stopping her from entering the building. Why? He didn't hit her or abuse her. Istead, he spoke softly as he prevented her from going in and refused to return the weak blows she tried to deliver to him in order to get in. The other guards were laughing at him and making fun of him. But, it wasn't funny to him. To him, this woman was worthy of being treated not as a "hostile" but as a parent or wife--who knows. My mind raced through various scenarios of what had happened.

Later, I passed a hospital. I saw a dad holding a little girl with a severe cleft palate deformity. He was kissing her on her check. Did she know she was deformed? As the dad pulled her away, I noticed he, too, had once had a cleft palate. The scar still showed. Was she at the hospital to be examined for surgery to get her cleft palate fixed? Or, was it something else? What would her future be?

Both were forms of injustice. Which mattered the most? How do you speak to it? After I spoke at the Flood in San Diego, a sharp young man came up and asked me about dealing with social and political injustice and how you tackle that head-on. I told him injustice is injustice. If you want to tackle it in a nation, start with the injustice you both can agree on before you challenge them with your notion of injustice on which you disagree.

So often, we want to show up and give our views on things without first having earned the right to speak to nations. It's easy to pick up a sign, or sign a petition. But, have we first given someone a cold cup of water, a bag or rice, a shelter over their head or something that says we care about all the people who are suffering. Both will have an opportunity to speak to injustice. The difference is, one will be heard because the people will know that person cares about them and serves them. The other will be tolerated as much as is necessary but never viewed as someone who really cares about them beyond a political position. Wow, Jesus really did have the answer on where to start in Matthew 25:31.