Some thoughts for the Sunday of Christ the King
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.[1]
Justice,
The right relationship
With the other,
Your kin,
Your self
Is more than a
Thought,
Aspiration,
Desire.
It is not just a
Word,
Motto,
Reconciliation action plan,
Political policy,
Corporate vision,
Mission statement.
It is not about
Outcomes,
Outputs,
Dividends
Or even
A Weasel word
Validating war,
Invasion,
Or payback.
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Justice
Is a verb,
An act,
Something you build,
Make happen,
Bodily embed within
And without,
Without which you are
Not human,
Not a person,
Just another individual,
A devourer
Of others,
Of creation in all
Its forms.
A protector of selfishness,
A co-proprietor of possessiveness,
Killing for country,
Hiding behind the sheep
As they despoil the land,
Dispossessing others,
Leaving no room
For the goats,
For the other preceding
And remaining
Outside,
Wronged,
Blamed,
Persecuted,
Homeless,
Placeless,
Voiceless.
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Justice
Cannot be
Play acted,
A game of charades,
Miming the actions
Without cost and
Investment of
All you have to give,
Materially and spiritually,
Costing deeply
So, others can find
A safe place
To be,
To become,
Be real,
Have a Voice
On things that matter
For country and Christ,
Parting ways with
The proceeds of crime.
For injustice,
All injustice,
Is a criminal act
Violently perpetrated
On the other;
Responsibility cascading down
To all who continue
To benefit,
Though words and time
May allow excuse,
There is not one.
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Justice
Is not ours to define,
Regulate,
Control or
Dictate.
It is the unconditional
Love of the un-like.
The unflinching denial
Of privilege and entitlement,
Of self interest
Obscuring our custodial
Responsibility for all
On country so loved
By God he sent
Its Ancestral Essence
From the Dreaming
To repair the fracture,
Restore wholeness,
Close the circle.
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Justice
Is what we do
When no one is watching,
Commanding,
Dictating.
It wells up from the
Deepness of connection
Knowing country,
Learning place,
Hearing it speak and
Knowing its Voice.
Wisdom
whispers in
sighs of the weary,
groans of the earth,
murmur of the waters,
chirpings in the forests.
Wisdom
Sees from eyes dulled by pain,
Voices cracking with loneliness,
Bodies bleeding from violence,
Stomachs rumbling from emptiness,
Judging
Those who profess to
Be of country
Denying the Ancestral Essence
Call to care for all.
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
Justice
Is a harsh mistress.
It is easier to say
No.
Costs little now.
Payment deferred
To the generations
To come,
Handing on denial,
Leaving the harvest
Of empty husks
For others to endure,
Bleeding down
From the fathers and mothers
To their children
And their children’s children
Until all are
Infected,
Blind,
Deaf,
To the cry of Wisdom,
The desecration of country,
The thud of nails
Driven Into wood.
Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Justice now.
[1] (Matthew 25:31-46 – The Judgement of the Nations)
Thank you Glenn