{"id":1260,"date":"2014-01-04T13:43:14","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T18:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2014-01-04T13:46:06","modified_gmt":"2014-01-04T18:46:06","slug":"poem-forgiving-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Forgiving Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forgiveness can no more refute<\/span>
\nThe demands of justice<\/span>
\nAnd its claim reguarding the lost<\/span>
\nThan justice can outflank<\/span>
\nThe necessity of forgiveness<\/span>
\nTo open the door for peace<\/span>
\nA heart rendering choice<\/span>
\nThe difference being<\/span>
\nSecuring one’s house<\/span>
\nOr living in a precarious home<\/span><\/p>\n

Being a lifelong peacenik, I have happened across numerous conversations along the lines of: which comes first, justice or peace.\u00a0 It’s not quite a fair question, but my heart tells me that like produces like.\u00a0 Justice produces justice.\u00a0 Peace produces peace.\u00a0 Like many questions posed as either\/or, the truest answer more resembles both\/and.\u00a0 The question is really about forgiveness and grace.\u00a0 Everybody at sometime wants forgiveness or grace when they have behaved badly.\u00a0 If justice were sufficient, then forgiveness should be denied.\u00a0 But we want more.\u00a0 We want peace.\u00a0 If you feel that justice is sufficient, and that you are willing to forgo peace, then I suspect you may have some unresolved anger issues.\u00a0 Of course, anger can be a great driver of working for justice.\u00a0 This anger can be a good thing.\u00a0 Equally true, anger is a poor foundation for forgiveness and grace.\u00a0 Peace comes from a place rooted in hope and possibility.\u00a0 Peace cannot be guaranteed, but it can be denied.\u00a0 Peace is a gamble.\u00a0 Peace requires taking a chance.\u00a0 As John Lennon said, “Give peace a chance.”\u00a0 As Gandhi said, “Peace is possible.”\u00a0 Peace is not simply a theoretical possibility.\u00a0 Peace is also rooted in the direct experience of forgiveness, grace, and love.\u00a0 The sheer gratitude of having a life present that was given to us without our doing often gets eclipsed by the dreadful threats of loss of that life, by whole or piecemeal.\u00a0 The gift of life makes possible all else in our life.\u00a0 If our life is taken from us, have we lost more than we have been given?\u00a0 Dare I ask: how can this even be unfair?\u00a0 As I like to say: life isn’t fair, it’s excellent!\u00a0 I sense that this question has been answered in the reality that it is a rare person who would believe that it would have been better to never have been born at all.\u00a0 It may be equally rare to find folks who can persistently focus on this primary grace making all things possible in our life rather than dealing with the actual or feared losses in our lives of things that we have built or gained at least partially due to our doing.\u00a0 The latter is the makings of justice-seeking.\u00a0 The former is the makings of peace-seeking.\u00a0 Justice-seeking and peace-seeking are not mutually exclusive.\u00a0 However, achieving peace requires a perspective rooted in the grace of life, which is fragile and uncertain.\u00a0 In fact, the very fragility and uncertainty of life makes it all the more precious!\u00a0 I do see peace-seeking as a higher function, encompassing and fulfilling justice-seeking.\u00a0 Peace-seeking is rooted in gratitude, the expression of recognizing grace.\u00a0 I think of it this way:\u00a0 To truly believe in justice, you must believe in justice for all.\u00a0 Believing in justice and fairness only for myself or some in-group (which I happen to belong to) is not justice.\u00a0 Like Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently and simply put, “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”\u00a0 With widespread injustice, which no sane person would deny, to seek justice for all means balancing, risking securing justice for yourself and your own in order to achieve widespread justice.\u00a0 Such a bold undertaking can only be embarked upon with a measure of grace and forgiveness in your heart.\u00a0 It is the promise of hope — real possibility — rooted in the experience of grace and forgiveness, that is an inescapable element of fulfilling justice.\u00a0 There must be a peace in our heart, based on this real possibility, that foreshadows the peace and justice that we hope for.\u00a0 So, what is my answer to the question: which comes first, justice or peace?\u00a0 My answer: gratitude, and, of course, the corollary of gratitude, which is forgiveness.\u00a0 Forgiveness is an expression of fairness, even justice, that others should be afforded the same infinite and sacred respect for life that life itself deserves.\u00a0 We have already “won” by being alive.\u00a0 The rest of life just needs to be lubricated generously with such a gratitude-filled awareness.\u00a0 So be aware, life is good!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forgiveness can no more refute The demands of justice And its claim reguarding the lost Than justice can outflank The necessity of forgiveness To open the door for peace A heart rendering choice The difference being Securing one’s house Or … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,9,15],"tags":[695,483,428,462,414,154,608,263,255,431,388,721,231,402,359,611,273,354,658,94,107,424,491,544,601,502,260,128,53],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-anger","tag-awareness","tag-experience","tag-fear","tag-forgiveness","tag-gandhi","tag-gift","tag-grace","tag-gratitude","tag-heart","tag-hope","tag-injustice","tag-john-lennon","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-loss","tag-love","tag-perspective","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-poor","tag-possibility","tag-present","tag-questions","tag-reality","tag-respect","tag-risk","tag-sacred","tag-short-poems"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Forgiving Justice | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: Forgiving Justice, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Anger, Awareness, Experience, Fear, Forgiveness, Gandhi, Gift, Grace, Gratitude, Heart, Hope, Injustice, John Lennon, Justice, Life, Loss, Love, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Poor, Possibility, Present, Questions, Reality, Respect, Risk, Sacred, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"POEM: Forgiving Justice\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-04T18:43:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-04T18:46:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"keywords\":[\"Anger\",\"Awareness\",\"Experience\",\"Fear\",\"Forgiveness\",\"Gandhi\",\"Gift\",\"Grace\",\"Gratitude\",\"Heart\",\"Hope\",\"Injustice\",\"John Lennon\",\"Justice\",\"Life\",\"Loss\",\"Love\",\"Perspective\",\"Poems\",\"Poetry\",\"Poor\",\"Possibility\",\"Present\",\"Questions\",\"Reality\",\"Respect\",\"Risk\",\"Sacred\",\"Short Poems\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Peace\",\"Poems\",\"Political and Philosophical Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/\",\"name\":\"POEM: Forgiving Justice | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-04T18:43:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-04T18:46:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"POEM: Forgiving Justice, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Anger, Awareness, Experience, Fear, Forgiveness, Gandhi, Gift, Grace, Gratitude, Heart, Hope, Injustice, John Lennon, Justice, Life, Loss, Love, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Poor, Possibility, Present, Questions, Reality, Respect, Risk, Sacred, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/04\\\/poem-forgiving-justice\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog HOME\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peace\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/peace\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"POEM: Forgiving Justice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!\",\"description\":\"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\",\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Top Pun\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/TopPun.com\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POEM: Forgiving Justice | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","description":"POEM: Forgiving Justice, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Anger, Awareness, Experience, Fear, Forgiveness, Gandhi, Gift, Grace, Gratitude, Heart, Hope, Injustice, John Lennon, Justice, Life, Loss, Love, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Poor, Possibility, Present, Questions, Reality, Respect, Risk, Sacred, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"POEM: Forgiving Justice","datePublished":"2014-01-04T18:43:14+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-04T18:46:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/"},"wordCount":727,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"keywords":["Anger","Awareness","Experience","Fear","Forgiveness","Gandhi","Gift","Grace","Gratitude","Heart","Hope","Injustice","John Lennon","Justice","Life","Loss","Love","Perspective","Poems","Poetry","Poor","Possibility","Present","Questions","Reality","Respect","Risk","Sacred","Short Poems"],"articleSection":["Peace","Poems","Political and Philosophical Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/","name":"POEM: Forgiving Justice | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-04T18:43:14+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-04T18:46:06+00:00","description":"POEM: Forgiving Justice, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Anger, Awareness, Experience, Fear, Forgiveness, Gandhi, Gift, Grace, Gratitude, Heart, Hope, Injustice, John Lennon, Justice, Life, Loss, Love, Perspective, Poems, Poetry, Poor, Possibility, Present, Questions, Reality, Respect, Risk, Sacred, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/poem-forgiving-justice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog HOME","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Peace","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/category\/peace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"POEM: Forgiving Justice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/","name":"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!","description":"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e","name":"Top Pun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Top Pun"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/TopPun.com\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}