Introduction to Seeing and Working Through the Heart

Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below. ~Noam Chomsky

Justice is rarely given freely or taken with violence—it does not, as a photograph, stand still in time. It requires the watchful eyes of hopeful human beings to see it served. Humans who with dedicated presence and tireless pursuit challenge at every turn injustices handed down upon any individual despite from whence they came.

The passion for justice burns with the heat of flames for fairness, equity, honesty, morality and impartiality. Even when the words that speak of progress try to smother the flames, a watchful heart knows the heat of justice cannot be cooled nor its spark extinguished. It demands eternal vigilance.

Contained in each one of us is a watchful eye and a watchful heart of justice. When all the messages of greed, selfishness, superiority and scarcity are burned away, there lay smoldering is the passion for justice. But it is a passion that must be stoked. It requires a watchful eye that never sleeps and watchful heart that never closes. It requires the fuel of knowledge and the air of action to be fully realized.

Yet, in the world of social justice and causes, it can sometime feel as if we are nothing but explorers, discovering new causes and new alliances. As though hidden on some dark continent or a place newly formed, social issue after social issue becomes visible. We prepare for conquest—we bring weapons, troops and we setup camps. We rally besides and with the people. And we are rewarded with transformations, public acknowledgment, and a sense of pride. We know we are on the right path because the nightly news has created special reports. Leaders we trust have taken up the cause. Regardless if we come to the issue because of great concern or guilt for not knowing that this part of our society existed, we come away announcing our new alliance and our new discovery. That is until there is another discovery.

In the wake of each discovery, we leave behind issues not quite resolved. It is not because we have not added to the formation of a solution, but it is because we have yet to discover and address the issue’s roots. Above ground, the fertile souls are ready to be cultivated, below ground the roots snake around until they find an opening to sprout challenges, but the same underlying issues.

We careen from justice for minorities, women, LGBT people, disabled people, economically disadvantage people and on and on, yet the ground is always fertile for regrowth. At times, we may abandon an issue because of fatigue only to be re-energized by the support of individuals who eyes and hearts are still open. Or it might be the rewards of being recognized. Over time, we find ourselves back to an issue we thought we had won, but because we may have discovered a new angle, it seems like a new discovery.

We train in how to bring enlightenment into the cause. We attend conferences, read books and discover new language to talk about our new discoveries. We join, we enlist, we protest, we write, we start new conversations, we define the problem and create solutions, but we really have not addressed the real problem.

While it may sound cynical, we have to ask ourselves what are we not solving? What are the issues that bind all the groups together preventing them from achieving complete justice in a manner defined in the definition of social justice? How can we create a climate where regardless of where we start off in life, we all have the same advantages? How do we ensure the only reasons a person does not fulfill his or her full potential is because he or she has chosen not to or some unfortunate accident has befallen him or her? How do we remove the roadblocks, provide directional signs on paths and ensure no dangerous traps wait to ensnare any person who walks upon this planet?

Daunting as it seems, it is less so if we combined our efforts whether individually, in groups, organizations or globally to discover the real issues at the heart of injustices and take a long-term defiant stance to provide real solutions. There are no illusions--when discovered, the issues will be huge and painful. The solutions maybe just as huge and painful for some if not all people, but as often quoted in many causes, sometimes we must struggle in order to move forward.

Real change, real solutions means the struggle is not just in the resolving the issues, but in delving deep into ourselves.  Some call it "soul searching." Are you in?