Surviving in the struggle for social justice

   Some people are called to accept great suffering in their life because of disease or loss.  Such was the case of Job. It raises enormous questions about faith and our understanding of God.

   However, there is also another situation: that of those who voluntarily undertake a path in life that inevitably leads them to isolation, suffering and even to death.  In some cases, this can be due to a life of crime, irresponsibility, addiction or vice. In other cases, it is precisely the choice to live with integrity and care for others that leads to suffering. Such was the case of Jesus and such is the case of many who devote themselves to the care of others or to the struggle for social justice.

   It seems to me that no one gives up their security, their physical well-being or their life simply out of self-interest. As far as I can see, those who surrender their lives in a life-long struggle for justice do so for others. While there are cases where a woman will face and surmount fear of reprisal and even death to defend her dignity, it is, I think more common to see this happen in an effort to save her children or so that her children might have a chance at a better life.

     We do not struggle for social change out of love for the struggle itself but rather in hope of something better – for ourselves perhaps, but most of all for others. Those who persevere in the struggle for social justice are like planters of fig trees: they will never see the fruit of their labour since the tree takes more than a generation before giving fruit.

     Moreover, we cannot carry on our own shoulders the weight of the entire struggle for change as if what we do will make all the difference.  Long term survival in the struggle is possible in so far as we are able to maintain a solid faith in the momentum of the struggle itself, of the common effort of many.As Oscar Romero said, we are not the master-builders, only the labourers.
   Perseverance in the struggle for social justice involves, as Dorothy Day expressed it, dealing with the small day-to-day tasks that come our way.  Only in this way can we contribute to a better world. Nor can we ever measure the effect of our efforts and so, in the meantime, we do the little things that we can each day and we live joyously grateful to be alive and to appreciate all that little joys that life brings, however small.