Systemic Virtue: JUST & RIGHT SATURDAY
Justice: Righteousness. Moral soundness & conformity to Truth. Administration of God’s Law (Natural Law).
I would venture to say that the word Justice can conjure up quite a bit in the mind’s eye these days. While what we each may envision as justice may differ, at the heart is a desire for what is Right and True.
Soundness resonates as being whole, healthy. Soundness has roundness to it.
If you have been reading along Systemic Virtue as I (slowly) write it, you may have noticed that Justice and Faith await. I hesitate to write about these two, because, well, (I am rolling my eyes), I want to get them Just Right. Justice goes so deep. I feel like I can barely scratch the surface. So here I go.
As you may have noticed, I am a bit of a word nerd. As a child, my sister ‘caught’ me reading the dictionary for fun and told me I was weird. Now I include the etymology of words in my definition investigation, and that practice opens up a world of clarity. In order to write about Justice, I think I need to define my terms.
Justice
Latin (iustitia /iustus): righteousness, equity, upright, just, in accordance with the law
Just: late 14c., morally upright, righteous in the eyes of God Also: equitable, fair, impartial
Just (adverb): precisely, exactly … I could keep going down the rabbit hole…. “exact” as a verb, and so on. ( But I won’t)
Righteous
16c OE morally right, conforming to Divine law, wise.
Determining What is Just & Right.
I pause to ask, “Who actually IS the Right person to determine what is just and right?” There seems to be the common element of God’s Law, and Divine Law in each of the definitions/etymology.
We could also recognize the use of the word Right. Christians would point to this use of the word Right as being relevant. Jesus sits at the Right hand of The Father. One more arrow pointing toward the Heavens.
Physiologists would point out the right hemisphere is generally known to be where intuition and creativity reside..
The answer to the question, “Who actually IS the Right person to determine what is just and right?” lies right in its very definition: The Big Guy. God. The One. Pure Source Consciousness, Holy (that’s His name).
But here underneath the Heavens, don’t we need individuals to determine justice among so much injustice? Yep. And if you ask me, I would suggest that those individuals best be going into deliberations in the Highest Court on a regular basis.
As for little ol’ me, if I am going to even THINK about whether what may be Just or Right for another, I best look in the mirror first. And, I best do some knocking on Heaven’s door for some answers. Judge and jury. In deliberation.
Where am I living justice: morally, in line with The Divine, equitably, precisely.
Where am I not?
Where am I being God’s law/Divine law in action? Where are my actions diverging?
Is my language Just?
Are my actions Right?
When I am contemplating a challenging issue with another person, am I TEMPERING my thoughts?
Being PRUDENT in my actions?
Humble in my FORTITUDE?
Living in Systemic Virtue?
Whellll…. This is going to take some time, now isn’t it? Yes it is. Well, JUST for the rest of my life. ;)
But I’ll tell you what comes significantly easier after you’ve pressed yourself with Justice. Forgiveness begins to naturally juice out. And boy did I need to learn how to juice the fruit of forgiveness.
Through new, forgiving lenses…judgement transforms into observation without opinion. And If I do have an opinion, its just mine to keep tucked in the briefcase to bring back to the Judge & jury for deliberation. Usually what happens is I peel the skin of opinion off and move on to matters of much more importance.
When forgiveness is abundant, it is much easier to make Sound decisions. And when we are sound, we are whole. When we are sound together, we make a song. A Verse. A UniVerse.
Have a Just & Right Saturday! Let me know how this sat with you, I love to hear from you!
Even though this is the first time I’ve written about Justice, I have been deliberating what is Just on my Saturdays for several weeks now. Saturdays are good days to sit in my court and ponder over the deliberations that feel Just and Right. Hence, why I am posting this on a Sunday, because I spent yet ANOTHER Saturday contemplating Justice. What about you?
If you enjoy this practice of self observation, this is one of the many practical tools that I offer in my 8 week re-course called Human Alchemy. Follow me to keep watch for when it goes live online.