This piece is dedicated to all, past, present, and future, who have experienced injustices in any shape or form. I am learning. We are learning. May we all stand together as we march towards oneness.

I have taken some time in recent weeks to reflect on the Black Lives Matter protests and I have been striving to gain a deeper understanding of the injustices and systemic racism that have been going on for centuries. Why is there a feeling of discomfort and hope at the same time? How can each one of us take action as an individual and why does that matter?  What does justice really mean? What do spiritual traditions teach us about justice and how did it all go so so wrong?

The word justice in English has its origins in Latin as two separate words were simplified into one. Justicia means righteousness and equity, while justus means upright and just leaning more into evenness and fairness. The word was first adopted to assign a title of judicial officer and Justice of the Peace. It later came to include the assignment of deserved reward or punishment. Over time, having one word represent two different ideas diluted the meanings of equity (justicia) and fairness (justus) that each word represents. The word justice was later used in theology in close relation to righteousness which by its very nature tends to be prone to be defined by groups for their own purposes that actually incite the spirit of separation. That being said, righteousness means to make right. The problem is that there are fundamental flaws in the way “right” came to be defined.

While it would be easy to blame the distortion of justice on the evolution of language, we must also consider our attachment to group ideals. Like it or not, we all have unconscious biases simply because we were born into a group and from that group we were taught a belief system based on the history and survival of the group. I will repeat that. Every single one of us has unconscious biases. Once upon a time, group rules and norms were established to protect groups as a matter of survival. Within this old system, loyalty to the group and its customs and beliefs were exchanged for protection from other groups. Anyone not in the group or tribe was considered “other” and great separations and divisions were created throughout the world that have passed on through and continued through the ages. Perpetual patterns of maintaining loyalty to the ideals of separation further deteriorated into discrimination, prejudice, intolerance, inequality, and causing much greater harm to many groups than protection. According to moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, in his book The Righteous Mind, “Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”

But true justice isn’t about separation. At its essence, justice, sacred justice, is about our oneness with each other and with all the elements and lifeforms of the universe. Justice exists on a special plane of consciousness together with truth and peace and freedom; all of which are extensions of love and joy. We are all born knowing the truth of what is right, what is just, and what is liberating. It holds such a power over us that injustices carry the potential to provoke a response to a degree that we did not know was possible and to an extent that is often inexplicable. In an attempt to uphold the highest level of justice, we become filled with what Desmond Tutu refers to as “righteous anger”.

Justice will be restored as we individually unplug from false beliefs that we are separate. Loyalty to such group customs and belief patterns no longer serve and protect us. A malady of blatant injustices has festered; and must now be acknowledged and purged from our collective body. Our job right now is to wake up and consciously recognize that we are all human beings. We are connected in that oneness. The Bible teaches that justice is about making things right, restoring what has become imbalanced. We must celebrate our collective humanity and the beautiful unique gifts and talents that each of us possess. The color of one’s skin, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or religious heritage, perceived disabilities, and any and all differences, don’t mean what we have been taught to believe that they mean. As each one of us as individuals detach from the divisive idea of “us versus them” these notions of separation begin to lose their power; and all who have been victimized in the system in so many ways and by systemic racism are finally able to take back their power. Verse 30 of the Tao Te Ching teaches us that “things that gain a place by force will flourish for a time, but then fade away.” The struggle will be transmuted into the gift of freedom.

We can think of justice like a river. A river begins clean and pure, high in the mountains close to the heavens, with a purpose to nourish life. As it flows by the force of gravity, it collects silt and debris along the way. It is joined by other small streams and its strength increases. As it gains more force from heavy spring rains, its potential shifts and it is now capable of mass destruction. Undeterred by such destruction, it carries on its way; wider, and stronger. Bridges must be constructed due to the division that it creates. It holds such great energy and power that dams are erected to capture and maintain it. Eventually tension and tumult build as the water twists and torrents with such strength as to carve canyons into the earth while progressing into violent and turbulent rapids. Just as control seems to be lost, the trillions of water droplets cascade in unison releasing all of the concentrated energy. Plunging to its destiny, the old accumulated debris is released, natural beauty is manifested as peace and tranquility are restored only after the demonstration and the fall to the new and unknown land to continue on its journey to be reunited with the sea. We are on the river of justice. While there is turbulence and struggle, there is joy and positive energy in knowing that the journey leads to the restoration of justice at its core and to our universal oneness.

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting anything that stands against love.” – Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.