1 just behavior or treatment : a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people.
• the quality of being fair and reasonable : the justice of his case.
• the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this : a tragic miscarriage of justice.
• ( Justice) the personification of justice, usually a blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword

Justice. What is Justice?

We live in a world that cries out for Justice. But do we really know what we are looking for?

In the united states justice is portrayed as a blindfolded woman holding scales. Implying that justice keeps everything in the balance, but is not partial to either side. Balance, an eye for an eye; Ghandi said that an eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.

Maybe an eye for an eye doesn’t make the world blind but rather makes justice blind? And perhaps that is the problem, that we want justice to be blind. Blind to the other side of the story, blind to anything but our way, and what we think is fair.

On my days off I watch movies. I have always looked at movies, music and media as social commentary giving insight to the behavior and interests of the world I live in. If you are what you eat, then you are what you watch, read and listen to.

Today I watched a movie that shook me and rattled me with the thoughts of justice. We desperately want and cry out for justice. But we don’t really know what Justice looks like. We live in a world where difference right from wrong is moving more and more from black and white to grey. And I sit wondering if the problem is that we’ve allowed justice to be blind.

What would happen if we allowed justice to open it’s eyes? See not just one situation, but the entire picture? The whole world picture, the good and bad, the things we deem good but are bad and the bad we deem good but is bad? What would Justice declare in that environment?

The bible says that God is the God of justice. Yet we don’t like His justice. He says that everyone gets the same outcome, death. He says that justice demands payment, and there is only payment for what happens that is wrong: Death.

Death: the only way to pay the price for wrong in the world is to die. And the outcome is that, we die. We die to pay for all the things that we have done wrong in our own life. God’s justice says that we will pay for our own wrong.

The irony is this: we long for someone else to clean up our own mess. That we want someone else to step in and take responsibility for our wrong, and God did just that. He sent His own son to make our wrong right, to perform justice. Yet we still refuse His help. Maybe in our search for blind justice, we have become blind? Maybe we need to open our eyes and see that true justice isn’t blind, that true justice is Jesus.

But today I am reminded of this phrase and for an odd reason. I feel a deep empathy for a friend who is having a difficult day. I’ve never gone through what they have, but I still feel their pain in part.

I don’t understand exactly what they feel, but I can understand a portion of the emptiness that they may be experiencing. And what I find even more intriguing is how perplexing my own emotions are for my friend. Although this person hasn’t suffered a death of a loved one, I still feel their pain. I am moved by the words that they share with me to describe how the next few days are going to be hard.

And yet I am reminded in all of this “blessed are those who mourn”.

Maybe the reason that this phrase is coming to mind is because there is more to it. “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

As I can almost feel the pain that this friend is going through, I desperately want to reach out and comfort them. I want to embrace them and wrap my arms around them and express my Love, Gratitude and Appreciation to them. And in exploring my own empathy, I realize something quite simple.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Maybe Jesus was right.

I am really only starting to understand what it means for a Father to give good gifts. I think that I understand this, but then something happens in my life to challenge me to question my perception.

I was talking to a friend recently about life and he pointed out some of his experiences with his kids. He gave the example of pulling his boys out of a pool before they got too tired. The boys responded thinking that he was punishing them, that he didn’t want them to have fun. But in reality, he was looking out to their best interest. As a father, his perspective was his boys and their safety. He was guiding them and bringing boundaries that protected them so that they would continue to be able to have fun and enjoy the rest of the day.

He explained that there are times when his boys do things that are inappropriate and wrong. That because they are the age they are the often lack judgment to make certain decisions. However, because he is a father and he loves his kids, this doesn’t change how he thinks of them. He still loves them. Even though they do the things that they aren’t supposed to.

In the context of my life, the phrase kept on coming to mind: “the Father longs to give good gifts.”

That God our heavenly father is able to give good gifts beyond the ability of our earthly father’s. But more than that, I felt my own understanding of what God’s gifts look like being challenged.

I have a dad who loves to give gifts. This doesn’t always look like the good gifts that I want and I don’t always recognize them for what they are. For example, I would love for my dad to pay off my student loan, but he hasn’t done that. On the other hand, while I was in school I took my car in to get fixed. There was a miscommunication, and they misquoted me on the bill and somehow the cost was more than I could afford. I phoned my dad and he paid the bill, without hesitation or question. The fact was that I had made an error in judgment, made a mistake, but he rescued me.

Now, I didn’t recognize that as a gift. Yes, I wanted my car to run properly. But I thought of that as bailing me out. Not as a gift, and rather than being happy and pleased that my father was able to help me and show grace. I was actually mad. Mad that I had messed up. Mad that I had to ask for help. Mad that I wasn’t independent.

But, in reality he gave a good gift.

God is also my Father, My heavenly one. And he also gives good gifts. But I don’t see them for what they are.

I want things like to be 100% debt free. But in reality, I have the resources to pay my bills on time. That is a good gift.

My perception has been challenged once again to consider what a Good Gift looks like. Ephesians 2:8 explains that salvation is a gift of God, given freely to us not by our own doing, by God’s grace.

The reality is that God’s definition of a good gift is a lot different than mine. God’s desire is to give me gifts that bring life and fulfill the desires that he created me to have. God’s definition of a good gift is not material, but immaterial.

The bible says that, “you do not have, because you do not ask.” It explains that when we do ask we are doing so out of a wrong motivation. That we look to fulfill our own passions, not our desires. We ask because we are proud and want to look good to the world. There are so many times that I’m conflicted by my own desires. I’ve been asking God why I they aren’t filled. But I’ve missed one small but significant point: God wants to fulfill our desires.

Instead of asking him if the desire is wrong, and if that is why it isn’t fulfilled. I simply need to ask him. It’s so incredibly simple that I completely missed the point: if my desire is to be free from depression, I simply need to ask that God would free me from my depression. If my desire is for relationship, I simply need to ask for someone to have relationship with. Asking for my desire to be fulfilled is quite vague, non-specific. It’s like asking an earthly father for the world, and of course He would give you a globe.

Sometimes, I feel like the only way to express how I feel is through song. Sometimes other people do it for me.

You Are Faithful
by Jesus Culture

My hearts aches for you my God
My soul waits for you my God
I’ve come far to find you here
In this place will I draw near

And your spirit soars with me
To the highest heights
From where I’ll not look back
I’ll keep trusting you

For I know
You are faithful
My God

For I know
You are faithful
My God

My hearts aches for you my God
My soul waits for you my God
I’ve come far to find you here
In this place will I draw near

And your spirit soars with me
To the highest heights
From where I’ll not look back, no
I’ll keep trusting you

From the land of the barren
We will cry out for rain
Fill our hearts God
I’ll keep trusting you

For I know
You are faithful
My God

For I know
You are faithful
My God

Your spirit inside me holds me close
In your wonderful presence I let go
I cleanse my hands you burn my heart
I cry out for love you set me apart

And your spirit soars in me
To the highest height
From where I’ll not look back, no
I’ll keep trusting you

From the land of the barren
We will cry out for rain
Rain God
Fill our hearts God
I’ll keep trusting you

For I know
You are faithful
My God

In Fact, I am such a facebook addict that I started a competition with a friend to see who had more “friends”. For a while we were neck and neck, but then I stopped trying, and he started. His friends doubled. I lost. But who’s counting?

Exactly. Who IS counting?

Today, I signed into my account as usual, but something was different. I had an invitation to an event, a friend request, and what’s this? something new!?! I noticed that I had been added as a top friend! A Top Friend?!?!!!
So here is the deal, Facebook has added ‘applications’ to their website. What this means is that other companies can put together add-ons which facebook users can use. It’s sort of like a widget. One of the applications allows you to not only Count your friends, but rank them! The application’s tag line is “Top Friends, Because your friends need to know where they stand”.

I’m sorry, but is that how materialistic and petty we have become. Now I realize that this is merely for fun. But I would argue that it represents a larger picture in our society. It is in fact a social commentary. We are so desperate for meaning, that we have moved beyond “who has the nicer car/tv” to “who has more friends”.

I Mean we’ve all done it, I’m guilty. Whenever someone mentions facebook, we always mention how many ‘friends’ we have. Does this really change or revolutionize our life!!?