Coming to the end of a project is always sweet sorrow. I will miss putting together reflections on Rotary, but I will enjoy the time that I can use for other activities. So, as I think about my final words of reflection, what can I leave as my last focus, while waiting with anticipation for the guidance presented by Andrew in his president’s messages. The word that comes to mind as a focus for Rotarians is “Justice”.
When justice is mentioned probably one of the first images that comes to mind is lawyers. Other images such as courtrooms, police officers, handcuffs, and jail. But why those images?
When justice is mentioned, why don’t we think of feeding the homeless, reaching out to the disadvantaged of our community, providing opportunities for the youth of our community. Even broader, consider the underdeveloped parts of the world and the needs there?
That’s what Rotary forces us to do. Rotary demands justice.
But justice is broader than that. Justice not only describes a standard of behavior, but its a term denoting a relationship. Without apology, I turn your attention to the book of Micah in scripture.
“O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with your God”
I am going to take the liberty to modify that scripture for us as Rotarians.
“LERC member, what is primary in your life, and what does Rotary require of you, but to do justice and love with kindness everyone, and walk humbly under the guidance of the four-way test”
But be careful, righteous indignation can be a great motivator for righteous deeds – so long as it’s grounded in kindness. Justice not anchored in kindness, not guided by the four-way test, transforms us from the hero into the villain. Not every cause is based on justice and not all who suffer are suffering because of injustice. And we can get burned out over the limitless causes that exist in a broken community. Ultimately, we become the villain because we think of ourselves as the hero who must save the world and when we see others not working like we are, we see them as part of the problem and we become bullies.
If you disagree with my cause or my opinion, you’re evil. You’re the enemy. And I don’t care what happens to you. A hero that just runs around beating people up in the name of justice is a bully.
In Rotary members can begin to lose sight of the principles of the four-way test, lose sight that we are in the people business. Justice is about restoration, not punishment. LERC members will not make the world and our community perfect. But we can become a safe place for hurting people to turn to in time of need, focusing on the need rather than the imperfections. Rotarians are called to restore, not reject. That is not always easy. The service offered may be rejected. And we hate rejection. But as LERC members, we can learn to look past the rejection. That is where the four-way test guides us.
LERC membership is fun. It is friends. It provides guidance in living. It is SERVICE ABOVE SELF. And it always will be as long as we remember to do justice under the guidance of the four-way test.