The justice of the world is not the same as the justice of God. The justice of the world has been set up to protect the elites from us plebs. Unfortunately, the justice of God is not always the justice of God either. Theological institutions have set up clerical overseers to micromanage and portion out grace as they see fit. These overseers keep us in check through manipulation of our levels of guilt and shame.
Sadly, this is such a regular religious occurrence that most of us have forgotten the truth about God’s justice and that is that its foundation is unconditional love. From that foundation of love, grace flows freely. And we don’t need a middle-man to access this grace. There are no steep legal fees and no community rehabilitation programme that we must adhere to. God’s justice flows from the five wounds of Christ. It is free. It is unconditional.
And there is no such thing as ‘greasy grace.’ You are either under the Law or under God’s grace. You can’t have it both ways. But boy, do many churches try to ensure they have it both ways! I mean, how else will they be able to control you and make sure you tithe etc?
Justice and Redemption
I don’t claim to understand how grace works. Original sin may or may not be a thing. I sure as heck don’t take the account of the fall of man to be literal. It’s all a great mystery. To be honest, the dogma about original sin seems a lot more like a clunky man-made theological construct to me than something divine and organic. But I do know that we are all human together. And our humanity makes us flawed in some ways. We suffer from negativity bias, for example, something we discussed in the post about the Wheel.
All I know is that Jesus came to show us a better way. He taught us that it is better to forgive someone once too many than to not forgive. And he modelled this lavish forgiveness on God’s own unconditional love and forgiveness. Now that does feel organic and real to me. I would follow a man who talks about God’s justice in that way. In fact, that is why I do follow him.
I also know that because of this unconditional love and forgiveness, Jesus achieved something on behalf of humanity that no other being achieved. That too (his redemptive work) is a great mystery. But it’s a mystery I rely on and trust in for ultimate, divine justice. To me, it means that Love has already won. It means that I can afford to be unconditional because all my riches flow from that same source of grace. And we are all invited to drink from it.
An Anthroposophical Perspective
For those of you who are interested in an anthroposophical view of the mystery of Christ’s redemptive work, I recommend this article from the Rudolph Steiner archives. I can’t say this is exactly where I’m at but it’s an interesting angle, for sure. Remember, it’s okay to question even the most basic theological constructs and take on board new information. Don’t believe those clerical micromanagers who try to frighten you away from continued learning!
7 Questions from the Wyld Godde Tarot Justice Card
- What is your view of justice? Do you live in a fair world?
- How do you perceive Godde? Is Godde fair?
- What about how you yourself exercise justice? Are your judgments and actions fair? If not, are you willing to own your bias?
- Do you believe in ultimate justice for those who are or have been oppressed?
- Could ultimate justice mean that everyone eventually forgives everyone else and continues to the next evolutionary stage?
- How are love, grace and justice connected in your mind?
- What does justice look like in the Old Testament vs in the New Testament?
