Comfort is overrated. Comfort is a luxury. People all over the world come from uncomfortable backgrounds that experience the simplest notion of be treated equally as foreign, sometimes on the scale of divine intervention. In some cases, it can be. Living comfortably enough to survive freely and have dreams that are believably possible to fulfill is a birth rite. It is not only a rite, it IS right. The Jesuit ideal of servant leadership reconceptualizes the idea of helping the suffering, the disadvantaged, the oppressed.
Oppression comes in many forms and it is insidious in everyday life to lesser and greater degrees. The degree is a relative condition that can guide our actions that express our identity to the world at large. It is a constant challenge in our own narrow-minded thinking and it sways us away from God. What brings us back to God is desire. To want your next breath of life, to desire to live in the next moment is to manifest existence, to manifest God. Existence is God since we were created in his image. A good starting point starts with the mystery of life. What do mysteries do? They make you ask questions. “Why do we exist?” is the mystery of life and we look for the answer to our own existence... knowing we will never find the complete “truth” in this lifetime, yet compelled to search for it by taking our next breath, experiencing continuity.
Contemplating the question of existence is manifesting the existence of God, for the ability to ask such a question is a gift. It is a sense of purpose which we long for, created by God, whom created us, which we create our destiny to fulfill his mission with passion. Passion is not a plan, it’s a feeling. And feelings change. If one were not to question the mystery of life, if one starts to believe there is no answer, there is no purpose, then one ceases to go forth toward a source and instead turns away from it. One would begin to drop into the abyss, away from God. ( K.Rahner, pg. 120, prgrph 3-4, Revelation and Faith). Others were born in the abyss. People of social justice and social work are deep divers who are cut from a different cloth. We (of social justice and social work) have chosen a profession to master discomfort. We are the divers who dare to explore the deep crevasse of inhumane darkness.
“Today I am proud to say that I am inhuman, that I belong not to men and governments, that I have nothing to do with creeds and principles. I have nothing to do with the creaking of the machinery of humanity. – I belong to the earth!... We have no need for genius- genius is dead. We have need for strong hands, for spirits who are willing to give up the ghost and put on the flesh.” (H.Miller, pg. 83, prgrph 1, Tropic of Cancer).
If you are a servant of justice then it is essential to apply equality to every citizen of the world. You don’t get to pick and choose. Justice is not a template or color palette you can formulate or envision to accommodate an idea of a perfect society. It is not a language of asterisks and waivers of exceptions made to award privileges to one individual idea of what is “good”. It takes work and a great deal of energy to help civil society mature in its continuity. Justice is a calling. Justice is a teaching. Justice is a learning process that perceives the world through eyes wide open. It is a “covenant” we all share with the people we live this lifetime with and with a higher power of the divine. Justice is the agreement that binds us to one another through a higher sense of belief. Every member of society should be willing to give and receive endlessly. We would like to believe we are all heading in the right direction. Rights come hand in hand with duties. There is a great balance required to achieve direction. Justice signifies we are entitled to have the means to proceed in that direction and reach ends equally.
As a Christian believer and Jesuit thinker, it is appropriate to say God is larger than the creeds and principles of all social justice. The heart of justice is not an institution. Jesuit teachings remind us that power corrupts. The Ignatian way emphasizes there are many ways to approach justice and religion. Religion is a communal practice, a mixture of social norms and social necessity which keeps us accountable. Justice outlines the mission of The Church and is brought into fruition through community. The Ignatian way evokes the question to think what religion is and what justice does. It brings The Church back to its mission which is to protect mankind from self-destruction. Justice can be thought of as the metaphysical law of equality. It sets the bar for every individual to contemplate our actions wisely for they are the foundation of a society and the fundamental measures that set laws into motion.
*The song "SKULLS" by Royksopp is a Psalm that opens a dialogue to the human condition. It reminds me of the integrity of all life and how an invitation to celebrate that integrity can also be a romantic invitation to death.
If you want to ride with us tonight
If you want to ride with us tonight
We will be the hands that lift you up and
We will be the hands that hold you high
We will make you say our name forever
We will make you want another try
If you wanna ride
Skulls
We will be the life you always wanted
We will be the fire in your blood
We will be the vice of your desire
We will be salvation in the flood
We will be the arms that lift you up and
We will be the hand that strike you down
We will make you scream our name forever
We will make you go another round
If you wanna ride
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