I was mid way through college when I started to feel this thing inside of my chest itch relentlessly. 
There was something about an old van driving through pockets of life from what Don Miller called, “Painted Deserts”.

It caused a shift in the way I saw most things. Human interactions. People. Pain. Nature. 
There was now this giant hole that needed to be filled. 

And that itch became unbearable. I needed something scary to knock me from the comforts of academia and home. Not because of something radical or interesting - but because there was this hole..

Social Justice. 
The man and woman and child on the street. 
Cigarettes and sweet soda. 
Chocolate icing and spaghetti. 

Vomit. Blood. 
More cigarettes. 

That’s when I learned justice was social. 
It involved smelling like cigarettes day in and out. 

Justice was a sandwich or a cup of coffee and place to sit for a few hours. 

Justice then became freedom. 
Freedom from the injustice of politics and cultural stigma.

Freedom was a blanket. A job. A cup of tea. 

And so now, as I feel so distant from those steps along my journey, I am faced with another movement in my soul.
It’s not just one, but the sum of oppression.

Now it’s advocating healthcare and regulations.

Now, I’m no longer capable of giving those blurry Christian answers to “hot button” issues like the GLBT community and whether or not God’s love includes them in the Beloved. 

Now, it’s police brutality, power and money, money, money.

Now, it’s standing up with women in their fight for equality…
(and my reinforced belief that something important is happening and women are [and have been] on the forefront)
It’s all overwhelming. The systematic changes that need, no wait, that HAVE to happen. 

In all of these things, it’s a fight for equality. It’s every day conversation. It’s how you treat your wife, daughter, friend, father and brother. It’s reconciliation. These interactions are important, I believe. Teaching our children to love all peoples, regardless of what their friends at school say. 
I believe it’s harder than I imagine - but when you’re working for peace, I don’t believe there is anything more important. 

I think a great deal of these things emphasize learning. 
Which is where I’m at these days.
It’s being present in my neighborhood…and noticing obvious anger and relational walls. 
It’s when you fear you are being part of newly gentrified areas…only, it’s what we can afford. It’s where we feel comfortable…but hoping it doesn’t neglect our neighbors and force them even further to the fringes of low-income neighborhoods. This is what we fear…this is what we fight against. 

But, we’re learning by being here. The books we’re reading an the people we’re meeting. Knowledge is indispensable and requires you to act…and action requires giving. 

And as cowardly as I am…giving is taking the first step out of apathy. 
Giving is life.
Giving is peace.
Giving is love. 
Giving is justice.