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 Will  social justice become central to overall mission at  St. John’s episcopal in Aptos, CA? 

  Highly likely.  Mother Tracy brings her perspective and changes are happening.   This  inference is based on reading  the  lengthy  email sent out  by the Mother Tracy (aka Mother  T)  concerning the proposed Mission Statement.

What we do  know:

  One:   Mother T chose the  well known social justice verse  from the old testament  — what  doth god requires of thee?  written by  the   prophet  Micah.

New International Version
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Mother T quotes Micah as “Do justice”  not     “do justly…”  There are numerous translations.  Few translations  use the words “do justice”.   Most  translations say  “do justly”. There’s a large difference between “justice” and “do justly”.

We do know that Mother T — who has numerous, excellent   skills — has not parented her own  small children.  Children  often say or demonstrate ‘that’s not fair’ concerning sibling antics and parents step in on a daily basis to deal justly with them.   As most  parents who have raised  small children know, handing out  justice is  a far cry from dealing justly with  their children.

  The prophet Micah is better translated as ‘do justly’ or ‘act justly’ rather than ‘do justice’.

Courts of law, judges and juries “do justice”.  As individuals  we  can  choose to ‘act justly’ and ‘do justly’.

 Two:  the words  of the proposed Mission Statement for St. John’s are  vague –  sufficiently so   that most anything can be plugged in as a Goal / Objective tied to an  underlying  ‘do justice’ theme (Micah 6:8).

The guts of the proposed Mission Statement:

Love like Jesus. Respect all persons.  Transform lives.

All three prongs — love, respect and transform –  easily morph into  social justice goals which focus on equality  –   which for many includes providing free needles  for persons  addicted to heroin / opiates  and  provide free living space for all homeless persons residing  in Santa Cruz county.

Here’s a suggestion for a far more  simple  Mission Statement for St. John’s  which is based on the  core words Love, Respect and Transform.  The word Alert.  Be alert. Stay alert.

And ALERT   means  stay off  heroin/  opiates. Stop using needles.  Stop pushing free needles for addicts.   Support free detox via methadone tablets and mobile detox facilities.  There’s a truck that provides free showers which goes to St. John’s episcopal  and other Aptos area churches.  Let’s have a truck that goes to those addicted and  supports persons who choose to get free of drugs and be ALERT!

  And, no more nodding off while alive.  The apostle St. Paul told  people to stay alert.

The word ALERT readily connects to the core words of Love, Respect and Transform which form the basis of St. John’s proposed mission statement.Just add a couple vowels to L R T   –  add a and e — and ah,ha — the word  ALERT.

Yes – stay alert!  That a decent,  basic, solid  stance towards life — to  Love, Respect and Transform.

And for non-believers and non-Christians and atheists — of whom there are quite a few at St. John’s –   the word ALERT  contains   no mention of  Jesus Christ, of Him as the Son of God, of  Logos or of anything explicitly Christian.  There’s little liklihood of offending anyone with a  logo of ALERT.

Note however that in the above image for ALERT  that there is a triangle.    The triangle could symbolize Father, Son and Holy Spirit for those  who do  believe Jesus Christ lives yesterday, today and forever.

Back to the beginning ….

Social Justice is largely all about  equality – and not about freedom.  Social justice advocates seek equality at the expense of freedom.

Like  a say in the direction  St. John’s  takes?    Then come on Sundays at 9:15 – 10:15 for the next couple week or so.  Come, listen  and participate.    Stay ALERT!

Written by Cameron Jackson