Being a justice advocate is about lighting the way, naming the sin and cleansing the wounds of that sin – if not personally, then we do it corporately as when we impact entire systems by arguing for and insisting upon justice for all. Being an advocate for justice can be exhilarating.
At the same time, advocacy humbles. Reaching out – helping people connect with the information needed to understand that what is happening right now requires their energy as people of God advocating for justice – is exhausting. When we feel that everyone shares a single reality and sees the world correctly when they see it the same way that we do, we have no need to learn from others. We covet; we war and express wrong judgments.
In my 2013 studies of the Inner Castle by St. Teresa of Avila I was shaken to my core to understand how feebly I contain the love of God. At the same time, I have grasped that it is Love Himself that holds me. At some point I turned a corner. It is Love not justice that I seek.
This message is excerpted from “Seeking justice? Seeking love?” by Inez Torres Davis from the May 5, 2014, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Theresa of Avila, teacher, renewer of the church, 1582.
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