Wed 5/15/2024 11:11 AM

Plato said that “[j]ustice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”  I might add that justice in the conduct of the school is only possible as it first resides in the hearts and souls of the faculty, staff, and students.

But there is a challenge in that.  Today it is fashionable to be warrior for justice; to insist that those who have done wrong receive the just penalty for their actions; even to demand through our own unvirtuous actions that certain injustices be righted by a measure of so-called justice meted out upon those who are perceived to stand in an historic legacy of wrongdoing.  And so, the virtue of justice can quickly become a vice—not a genuine pursuit of what is true, and good, and just, but rather a tool of revenge.  A sort of “justice for thee, but not for me.”

It made me wonder, throughout the school year, have you been glad to see the rules enforced against your unruly classmates?  Have you had your sense of justice satisfied when someone who broke the rules received a just punishment for their actions?  That is as it should be – as the Bible tells us, “let justice roll down like waters….”  But what about yourself – were you ever glad or grateful to receive a reprimand or punishment for your own misconduct?  And thinking about it now, would you really want to live in a world where others get their just punishments, but you always get away with it?

Of course, that’s not really justice at all.  As Charles Dickens once said, tongue-in-cheek, “charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.”  Has this year helped you to love justice, not just for others, but for yourself?  I hope so.

Have a wonderful day.