Sunday was the fabulous May Day Parade in Minneapolis, put on for the 39th year by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. The weather cooperated, the spirit was joyful and bright, and as is always the case, the color, the energy, the beauty and the profound challenge to re-think and re-live our world into a better blessing were fantastic. If you've never been to one of the parades, get there next year!

After the ceremony in Powderhorn Park, my wife and older daughter and I were walking around the lake, eating Kettle Korn and stopping at the various booths. One particularly touched me, a group which teaches a way out of trauma that seeks justice and reconciliation rather than revenge. I don't know a lot about their approach, but I do know that that approach is something we really need.

Something happened a few days ago that has struck me also. Protestors gathered at the funeral home where the Boston Marathon bomber's remains were being prepared for burial. I didn't see all the signs or hear all what they said, but I can infer from the funeral director's words that the protestors believe that the man is not entitled to a proper burial.  That his victims didn’t receive justice, so why should he?

I understand the anger, the sorrow and even the rage of those who suffered from the bombing (although I don't know if any of the protestors are in that category).  I have friends whose loved ones were murdered, and have spoken at funerals of senseless shootings.  I know that I would feel a desire for revenge if one of my loved ones were murdered, but I also know that would not be justice.

This Sunday, I am going to preach on justice at our church, a church which may be divided--by age, by culture, by theology--on what justice means and what issues should be addressed. Even when we might all agree on something--for example, that human trafficking should stop, and that we should do what is in our power to stop it--as we get into what that entails, we may start to lose some of that agreement. What would justice for that issue be? Would it be to find, convict and lock up the perpetrators? Would we need to jail the "johns”? Most of us would not prosecute those children who were forced into prostitution, but how about those who were forced as children and now are still "in the life" because of fear, addiction or not knowing how to leave it?

All of those have to do with a sense of retributive justice--of those who've done wrong "getting what they deserve", and I imagine the protestors at the funeral home were motivated by that. But if that is the limit of our justice, we have a pretty small sense of it. If we looked at justice as restoration, rather than just punishment for wrongdoing, what would be steps that we would take? What healing would be possible, and who would have to change?

The group that was sharing information about their program had a diagram showing how trauma can lead to a cycle of depression, isolation and eventually can lead to victimizing someone else.  Not all victims of trauma become perpetrators, of course, but some do.  Victims of child abuse and children who witnessed domestic violence are more likely to become abusers as adults.

They had another diagram as well. Which showed a new path which could lead to a justice that restored the victim and held the perpetrator accountable, but also sought to restore the community and the perpetrator as well.  Not an easy road, and one that—contrary to what we might believe and wish—requires the victim to take a risk, and endure the pain of confronting and eventually forgiving their perpetrator.  That is a radical kind of justice and very challenging, but what healing it could bring!

During the last few weeks, after the Boston Marathon bombing, there was a quote circulated that was attributed to Martin Luther King but turns out to not be his.  But the quote stands as a challenge to us: “I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.”

This is a quote from Doctor King, and I close with this hope: “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Be a deeper Beauty.  Be a more radical justice.

Patrick

 

(In another post, I want to explore what this means for the church. Unfortunately, too often we in the Christian church have made justice into something that God has to do to us, because we are wrong, and Jesus becomes the just, innocent victim who takes our place. Pretty limited understanding of what God is doing to restore the earth, in my opinion).