Restorative Justice

Six months ago, I was rushing to bring materials to a church presentation. On my way there, I was pulled over. When the officer asked if I knew how fast I was going, I honestly said I did not know. He informed me that I had been going 47 mph in a 25. I was shocked. It was one of those moments that, even if I was focusing on my surroundings, the rush I was in distracted me from paying attention to how fast I was going. I was completely appalled at myself.

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

We're excited to welcome Laurel Luke as a new Do Justice columnist, focusing on criminal justice!

Four years ago, I knew very little about criminal justice reform or prisons. I didn’t know anyone who had been to prison, have any knowledge around what a prison was like or how long people stayed, and I didn’t have a clue what legislation or stories got people locked up. All I knew was that prisoners did something bad, were serving a sentence, and most would be released.

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

Looking for summer beach reads? Here's what some Christian Reformed justice staff are reading this summer. 

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” - Zora Neale Hurston

Viviana Cornejo

In Luke 23:42, "the other criminal said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" The author of Hebrews says in chapter 13:3, "Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

"Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison."

Each of us is an offender in God's eyes. That God extends his grace deep enough to embrace even the life-sentence-serving criminal should comfort and inspire all of us who follow Him.

It’s been quite the year! Thanks for reading and learning along with us, as we wrestled with faith with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other (Karl Barth).

Here are the top Do Justice articles (ranked by top pageviews) that got you thinking and acting in 2017: