The U-shaped hole in Injustice by Karen Blakeley

This week we have been ranging over a number of topics, justice, patience and courage. And, although not planned as such, it seems to me that the three are very closely connected.  Try this exercise:  time yourself for 1 minute and see how many examples of injustice in the world you are able to write down.  I came up with 15.  When I gave myself 2 minutes I typed out 30 issues and could have gone on for longer.  My issues ranged from the injustices in this country’s education system, to inherited diseases, to poverty in Africa, to the lack of human rights in a number of regimes all over the world and to human trafficking.

So what do you do in response to all of these issues? 

• You can get angry
• You can do something small e.g. write a letter to your MP
• You can do something big e.g. protest, march, organise a fund-raising event
• You can do something that involves some personal sacrifice e.g. give up a holiday and volunteer instead
• You can be fatalistic and resign yourself to the inevitable injustice of life
• You can avoid it – bury your head in the sand, get on with your own life
• You can ‘care’.

Of course, there are pros and cons with all of these.  Even just ‘caring’ is emotionally exhausting – there is just too much to care about.  Since we cannot do anything about most of the injustices in the world it is tempting to bury one’s head in the sand and get on with one’s own life.   And we probably all do all of these things at various times.

The trick, it seems to me, is to know when one is required to be patient and when one is required to be courageous.

I am currently in my ‘angry’ phase – this often happens when I have space to think about issues of injustice.  I am at the phase where “something must be DONE”.  So recently I looked to join some kind of organisation that was active in the political arena without being an actual political party, as I am disillusioned and cynical about such institutions.  As a result of my search I came across an organisation called Compass and, having chatted with the remarkably energetic young lady at the end of the phone, I was invited to attend an Inquiry into ‘a new model for education’ in Portcullis House where much of the business of Parliament gets transacted.  About 50 people filled the room which included an MP, the head of the N.U.T. and two ex-headmasters, one of whom was a member of the House of Lords.  A vigorous debate ensued amongst all the participants many of whom came from the world of secondary education.  Talk about injustice – it burst forth from every person’s story or plea, our education system is positively brimming over with it!.  And you can always tell when people have experienced injustice because they get angry and upset and passionate.  What was interesting to me was that the MP and the other speakers kept saying “I agree with everything that has been said so far”.  Apart from being ‘politician-speak’, they were right – we all knew the injustices and the problems in education, it’s just that different people have different views as to how to put them right.  And, what was also apparent was that fixing those injustices involved a highly complex process of harnessing different energies, opposing ideas, conflicting needs and competing interests.  I heard nothing original that evening and left thinking, ‘well that issue is best left in the hands of people who know what they are talking about and who know a lot more about the issue than I do’.   And I often come to that place nowadays – what do I know about the Palestinian issue;  what qualifies me to get angry on behalf of the protestors in Turkey or Brazil; what can I do about the companies that are avoiding tax?

This is where patience steps in – these are the words from the serenity prayer:

Lord give me the serenity to accept things I cannot change

             The courage to change the things I can
             And the wisdom to know the difference.

I am not sure I have displayed much courage in changing the things I can but I suppose it does take a degree of courage to care about things you can change.  Because once you decide you are going to care about something, well, you have to actually DO something about it.  And in our over-worked, pressured and yet highly stimulating, entertainment-rich environments giving up time to DO something is a sacrifice.   Furthermore, you never know what you may end up doing – a marathon, a sky-dive, a talk, something that makes you look ridiculous – all for charity or to address an injustice of some sort.

As far as injustice is concerned, I think we can afford to give ourselves a little break – we all know the problems in our world and there are others out there who are focusing their energies and talents on resolving those problems.  But there is one problem in the world – it may be in the family, in the community, at work or even a national or global issue – but there is one problem that has a ‘U’ shaped hole in it.  It is just waiting for ‘you’ to focus your energies and talents on it and for ‘you’ to believe in yourself enough to step up to the plate and ‘just DO it!’.

Good luck!