Human spirituality arises at the crossroads of solitariness and sociability,
the matrix of what people do with prayer time alone and in communion.
That crossroads implicates an apposition of the intimate, the ultimate.
Biblical spirituality in the Judeo-Christian tradition makes of this apposition
a practical command, to serve people at the point of their fundamental
spiritual needs, the intimate need for mercy, the ultimate need for justice.
Gospel love addresses both needs at once by the high command to love God
utterly and neighbor as self, with the tacit implication of unconditional self
acceptance. So biblical justice means fairness, equality of opportunity, but
also a will for balance and release that transcends covetous desire or greed.
In a world that is not fair, and in a context in which well-meaning people
often look the other way, justice also demands a capacity for striving toward
The Not Yet, in the face of The Unknown, dwelling with hope and felt-integrity of things unseen. So biblical patience seems critical, a propensity to wait without waiting for anything particular. Agendas stand for starting points, not final outcomes, trusting a will of spirit not our own to prevail in
the end.
In economic terms the need for justice often seems greatest in the urban
setting, particularly the inner-city, the sanctuary of the-poorest-of-the-poor.
The Poorest Of The Poor typically exercise the least authority, sensing little
or no power, or the rights to exercise what power they may have. Economy repressed: loss of jobs and the like, magnifies a depressed spirit, farthest
from the vision of the realm of spirit, the sphere of godly influence.
The realm of spirit in such a setting arises twofold, as empowerment and as opportunity. In the current economy this means affording prospects to meet
the basic needs and that must mean jobs, alongside transit to and training
for the workplace. But opportunities are lame apart from the peace and
power to make a difference. The realm of spirit thus makes a claim for justice in seeking to satisfy the basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, health and security while offering spiritual fuel to stay the course.
Soup kitchens and clothing pantries and job banks and health clinics are
among the direct services and strategic programs that traditionally prove
useful to foster biblical justice and may be the first line of defense against
misery. So the spirit tarries there in service while it seeks ways to support
the arising of authentic community, a context of blessing and a basis for
systems change to address structures of oppression that affect personal,
social, institutional, and cultural life. Needless to say, authentic selfless
community of service is not always manifest in the very places you might
expect to find it.
Where you do find it, the spirit of service acts as a change agent to identify,
interpret and address societal ills, without falling into disquiet or acting
in loco parentis. Its pastoral mission is to comfort the wounded and the
vulnerable. Its prophetic mission is to confront situations of poverty and
injustice. It acts as an incarnation of transcendence in its role as interpreter
of faith, both to the outcast and the faithless, as well as to the faithful when
they become complacent and forgetful. The spirit of service dwells at the
crossroads of the intimate pain of the human condition and the ultimate
prospect of the human character.
So the realm of spirit aims to meet persons at the point of their twin needs
to make a living and to make good on life, thus making a difference for
the commonwealth. Justice in this light cannot be sustained apart from a
change in the way people think and move and have their being. That change involves transformations of consciousness, or in biblical terms, being born again. Next Page
