“The just hand is a precious ointment” (Latin Proverb).
ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH SERIOUS INJUSTICE CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT A “PRECIOUS OINTMENT” JUSTICE IS. Frankly, there aren’t many things in life more valuable than the simple treasure of fairness. And no matter who we are, we would do well to examine ourselves honestly from time to time and make a new commitment to this virtue, which is one of the greatest.
But when we are meditating on justice, which is the more profitable question: whether we’ve received adequate justice from others or whether we’ve done adequate justice to others? In a culture where we almost compete for the status of “greatest victim,” we seem always to be concerned that others haven’t given us what we deserve. But if our lives as a whole were to be taken into consideration, would we really want what we deserve? Before we say yes, we should probably reconsider. “Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping?” (Shakespeare).
If we ever really got what we should get, most of us would want to return to the “unfairness” we thought was so unbearable. H. L. Mencken was right when he said, “Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.” What most of us want is mercy — and to the greatest extent possible, that is what we should want for others also.
Perhaps we should spend more of our time questioning the justice we extend to others. Here, most of us ordinary folks will find lots of room for improvement, especially when we consider that we may do injustice as much by what we leave undone as by what we do. A few days’ trial of Benjamin Franklin’s rule (“Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty”) will show us how challenging it is to make a real-life commitment to justice.
Above all, however, we must take care not to limit our defense of justice to those who make a favorable impression on us or those we think “ought” to be treated justly. If we have a most common failing in the matter of justice, it is probably that we show favoritism in dispensing it. But to be authentic, justice must be “blind,” in the honorable sense. Everybody deserves to be treated fairly.
“Do justice to your brother (you can do that, whether you love him or not), and you will come to love him. But do injustice to him because you don’t love him, and you will come to hate him” (John Ruskin).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
