We begin this week in the middle of the parable from last week: The widow and the unjust judge.

Then Jesus told them a parable about the need to pray always and not to lose heart. (Luke18:1) He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' (Luke 18:2-3) For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" (Luke 18:4-5)

Again and again she came to the judge. Non-violent civil disobedience is also about this kind of "again and again" - even when nothing seems like it will bring justice. We continue to pray for the healing of the world and for justice and reign and peace to sit down alongside justice...and yet, we are witnesses to corruption and special interests and those with little or no power being trampled or simply forgotten ( a slow trampling). We pray and we work for justice without being assured that the world will change. And yet, we continue. Even the powers of the world have a history of bending under the pleas of minorities and the oppressed and the dispossessed. Those constant prayers that take the shape of actions of resistance where the unexpected is expected to come and change all things. Great examples of this prayer-full living can be seen in the life of Gandhi who challenged the British Empire with the simplicity of honest calls for justice - honest depiction of the injustice of so much of the life within the legal system of Empire. The British - an honorable people - were finally able to see themselves and the hell they brought to life. It was this constant prayer-full life that exposed them and made them look at themselves. If such powers can be made to change and give in and establish justice, then we too can be moved to expect that our God - who loves us without end - will bring forth justice. Until that day, we are agents of that justice on the way. Persist.

Connection: Seeking justice is a persistent adventure. It doesn't always see the end of injustice. Therefore, be encouraged to be patient and remain active for the welfare of others.

There is no justice greater than your will to bring all your people together as one within your Reign of peace, O God. In the middle of that vision we wait and live and pray and hope for signs of your beloved community to emerge within this day. Amen.l