Recently, I finished reading “The Crossing”, by Cormac McCarthy, and it has me thinking about justice. What is justice? What does it look like? Especially with the coming of a new administration into political office, I wonder if this is a question on a lot of people’s minds lately.
WARNING: There will be SPOILERS!
McCarthy’s work often leaves me deeply contemplative, often disturbed, sometimes reevaluating my own core beliefs. I halted about a third of the way into this book, and almost considered quitting. I won’t give away the reason why, but it was something that happened in the plot that deeply upset the fabric of my being. Something disappointing that led me down a path of contemplation on justice and injustice.
About 3/4 of the way through, I halted again. This time, a sentence that my eyes and mind could not escape:
“He said that it was a mistake to expect too much of justice in this world.”
Umph!
As an animal rights advocate and a human with a very strong sense of justice, I often experience quandaries—mostly from other people—as to how justice can exist in a world where animals and humans are treated with abuse, neglect, violence. Horror. There is no easy answer to this one. We have to find ways to live in the gray areas of humanity, of nature.
Don’t expect too much of justice in this world?
I believe expecting much of anything from this world can lead to disappointment. At first that was what I thought of McCarthy’s intention, if there was one, behind this statement. But then I read on.
Many appalling things happen in this story. If you’ve read or seen the film, “The Road”, or “No Country for Old Men”, you know what I mean. So appalling I wasn’t sure I’d continue on, and it’s rare for me to give up on a book.
But as I read on to the end, I picked up on the subtle nuances of human goodness within the story. For example—
The main character’s brother Boyd is shot in the chest when the two of them attempt to regain some family horses that were stolen from their property. Billy (main character) rushes to find help for his brother, but he is in the middle of Mexico in the early 20th century. Enter the “Deus ex Machina”…a truck full of Mexican workers happens by. These strangers offer to help Billy, and are able to take his brother to safety.
Further along in the story Billy encounters that truck of workers, who stop to ask him about his brother. When they learn that his brother survived, one of them stands up in the truck bed and yells:
“Hay justicia en el mundo!”
There is justice in the world!
It was in that moment I had a revelation: there absolutely IS justice in the world, and also I do agree we need to be careful not to expect too much of it. Meaning, justice doesn’t always look the way we think it should.
To me, justice looks like other things: compassion, contribution, love. We have to be open-minded about justice…if we don’t want to lose heart or become bitter, losing faith in humanity.
Here are some examples of what justice can look like:
- The LGBTQ community coming together to help people dying of AIDS during the 1980s AIDS crisis.
- The doctors, nurses, and everyone who came together to help people suffering and dying during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Every underpaid and overwhelmed teacher and social worker on this planet who work to educate and help our children, our elderly, those of marginalized communities, who work for social justice every day.
- Every time a parent accepts their transgender child.
- Stonewall, 1969
- The Women’s Suffrage Movement
- The Civil Rights Movement
- Black Lives Matter
- The Gay Marriage Act
- Every time a transgender person gets their gender-affirming care
- Every time an animal is rescued from slaughter and given a second chance at life
The list goes on and on, folx.
Justice is a warm hand reaching out to those it does not know, does not need to know, because it understands we are all connected.
Justice is the grace one receives after a long day of fighting.
Justice is in the quiet places where people do what they feel is right when no one else is watching.
Justice is everywhere. It is happening around us all the time. As long as we don’t expect too much of it, we can open our minds enough to see it thriving here on earth.
How do you define justice? Have you experienced justice in your own life?