A Living Hope for Justice

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24

We long for justice—but not as much as our Lord. He is the One who is Just, who is Righteous, who is Holy…the only One who knows what justice really looks like.

Our concept of justice can often become a grand, abstract thing, and we spend ourselves for noble causes (often from the safety of our living rooms). Justice is the end of corruption, the end of poverty, the end of human trafficking, and the list of evils righted goes on and on.

I visited a small village on the coast of Honduras, among the palm trees, white sands, and the truly-blue ocean. Here, I saw another aspect of justice—the fact that justice is small. Justice begins individually, in the way I treat my neighbor, the way I shop at the grocery store, with whom I talk to. For all the commandments are summed up in "love the Lord your God" and "love your neighbor as yourself."

For me, Leticia is a living example of the hope for justice, embodied as a large African American woman with plaited hair, serious eyes, and in a green skirt. Leticia is Garifuna, a minority in Honduras living in their own unique communities; their ancestors came over as African slaves. She is also a single woman and is HIV positive. She lives on the outskirts of the city in many different ways, not only physically. Yet, down the dirt road, past the tourist shops, past the white beach, and past the cemetery, she has a little micro-business. She proudly showed me the things that she and 15 other HIV positive Garifuna women are making—mostly, at this point, aprons or simple dresses. I helped wrap plastic around two new ovens, crafted from old shipping barrels, to protect them from the torrents of Honduran rain. These ovens are to make traditional sweet breads to sell to the community and to the tourists.

As we are bending over the ovens, I look into Leticia's eyes and I see visions. She has dreams for this micro-business, for her children, for the other women in the little program, and for her community. She hosts HIV prevention workshops and programs to local churches, villagers, and children. She is dreaming of a different life for them as well and working to make it happen. She is eager to learn new skills; I was told she is not afraid of trying anything—painting, paper mache, weaving, and more. She is bravely dreaming, courageously daring to see a new life.

This is justice—people love her enough to help her right the wrongs in her life, despite cultural, language, and economic differences. She, in turn, is a channel of love to others and brings justice in to their lives. It is not a justice that will right the evils of discrimination, that will right the evil of disease, or that will affect the government. Yet, the wrongs in her life are being redeemed through Christ's love. She is working to right wrongs in others' lives. She is bringing justice to a few in this beautiful ocean village, and a brave testimony to the One who is Living Justice. May justice roll on like the ocean waves, and righteousness like the tides!