Justice and the Outward Turn

Most of the moving boxes have been unpacked, and I am settling into my new role as Director of the Peace and Justice Center at St. Norbert College. A friend saw my new title and asked, "Peace AND justice? Aren't those kind of antithetical? I can see one or the other, but how can you have both?" 

If justice consists of getting even, he would be right. Cycles of retribution do not bring peace; they prolong war. But if justice means establishing what is good and right, then it flows with peace in a single stream. 

By grace, we are expected to stand in it. Regardless of our job descriptions, we share a calling to champion human dignity and be a voice for the voiceless. That is part of the outward turn that we talk about in LifeSpace. It is the spiritual discipline of loving others well, the transformation in which the Spirit lifts our gaze beyond the contemplation of our own selves, toward an ever-increasing love of God and others. 

"Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Bob