As we start out on this little Thursday evening writing adventure, I wanted to preface all the things to come by saying: These little bits will be just that sometimes: bits of thought, things unfinished, ideas that are working their way through my insides in the slow and stretching way they usually do. Y’all know: I’m not fully-formed, no work has been completed in me…I am, always, a person in process. So here’s a bit of that process, I suppose. Thanks for coming along on the journey.

I have felt heartsick this week. It happens every time such suffering happens. I’m not sure what you’ve needed this week, but I’ve needed space for grief, and then, also, I’ve needed a few minutes to look toward what Love does in situations that are hopeless. It hasn’t eased the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think of the mothers without their children. It hasn’t given me any answers to recommend as solutions, but I think it’s reminded me what I’m to be about in the midst of injustice, and at least for today, that bit of centering has helped.

About a month ago, I opened up an email from the Center for Action and Contemplation, and read through the summary of that week’s devotional writings. I do this every Saturday, and there’s always something that makes me think, even in those short summaries. This particular week, it was a blip added in near the end of the email: “St. Bonaventure describes justice as “the returning to its original beauty that which has been deformed.””

In light of all that’s happened this past week (and let’s be real, all that happens, always, around the globe), I thought I’d leave you with that little, provocative thought alongside this song that’s been swirling around in my mind lately, too.

I think our Jesus is always in the messy business of justice, the long work of returning people to their original beauty, the making of enemies into brothers, in the smallest conflicts and on the largest of world stages. May we join him wholeheartedly in our own little ways. We are all branches of this vine. Every little bit helps. May we be people of peace.