Canada

January is Sanctity of Human Life month. I believe this sanctity extends to far more than the pro-life movement. To me, this is not just a political issue, but one that affects our moral fiber because all life is sacred.

“The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.”
—Psalm 33:5

Justice and hope. Can these two words really go together? Where is our hope when the poor are trampled underfoot and it seems that the powerful take the day every time? Where is our hope when even our fellow Christians too often turn their faces away?

We have hope because we are not saving the world, Christ is.

A reckoning. A cleansing. A settling of accounts.

Journalists and commentators have been at pains over the last several months to find new words to describe the ongoing revelations of sexual assaults, harassments, and misconducts by powerful men in a variety of industries and sectors. Politicians, news anchors, film executives, actors, comedians and more have seen their careers come to an abrupt halt as victims courageously stand up and come forward with unsettling stories of severe abuse of power.

“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; 
     he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 
He has brought down rulers from their thrones 
     but has lifted up the humble. 
He has filled the hungry with good things 
     but has sent the rich away empty. 
He has helped his servant Israel,
     remembering to be merciful 
to Abraham and his descendants forever, 
     just as he promised our ancestors.”
                                                                           —Luke 1:51-55

Dear Tanya, 
In 2009, you became a number that I wasn't counting. 
Your sister, Vanessa, was counting.
The hours, days and the years of this silence.
I heard during the hearing. 
I heard your story. 
I heard your human-ness. 
You are not dead to her.
You are not a number.
I'm counting. We're counting.
With Love, 
Priya

An ally is someone who resists injustice on behalf of marginalized people. An ally may have social privilege and social power that those on the margins lack, and they use that power to expose injustice, to speak against injustice, and to propose just alternatives. Followers of Jesus, who seek to serve as allies, look to the ways that Jesus broke social stigma, empowered the powerless, drew people from the margins to the center, and embodied a vision of shalom where ALL would flourish.

On Do Justice, we’re all about creating space.

Space to ask hard questions. Space to wrestle with the implications of the Church’s call to do justice in the places where we live, today. Space to struggle with what it means to be the Body of Christ, where the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” and where the foot cannot say to the head, “I don’t need you.”

I grew up in a Christian home, with parents who were deeply involved in our local church, and who encouraged my siblings and I to be active members from a young age. I cherish the lasting influence church involvement has had on my life, and view it as a direct result of the faithfulness of my parents. From Sunday church services to weekly family Bible studies, faith was woven into all our family traditions, and has remained a central anchor in all our experiences. Racial justice – or a lack thereof —has also been a central characteristic of my personal and family experience.

“Sustainability” might be a modern term, but it’s an ancient value. Parents were reminding children to turn out the lights generations before Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth. Elders have long taught youth not to take more than is needed, to live in harmony with one’s surroundings, to protect the soil from wind and water erosion, and to protect creatures so they can continue to reproduce.

For the past few weeks, two alarming and powerful words have filled my social media feed. Using the hashtag #MeToo, women have been breaking the silence, bravely sharing their stories and experiences of sexual harassment and assault. Since news of the countless abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced, this hashtag has spread around the world. The story moved beyond one man and became a platform for conversation around abuse of power, acts of aggression, and violence against women.