Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.... The idea of "doing justice" seems like such a daunting task. The world is full of injustice. Women and children in our predominantly male controlled world are often abused or neglected. People around the world are starving even though there is food enough to feed the world. Others are jailed, maybe even executed, for simply speaking their minds. And the list goes on. It can seem like there is injustice everywhere we turn. What difference can we possibly make in the face of such huge injustice?

The danger, of course, is that we let the enormity of the problem stop us from "doing the justice" that we are able to do. There are many things that we can do to bring a little bit of justice into the world. We can make small differences that when added together create major change.

I have recently made a personal commitment to do two things to bring a little bit of justice into the world and invite you to join me.

First, I have made a commitment to no longer be silent. Our state and federal legislators are continually making justice decisions - or have the ability to do justice in the world on our behalf. But the only way they know that I am concerned about an issue and what I believe to be the justice that God seeks, is if I tell them. And so I will make a commitment to send emails and letters and make phone calls to let them know. As opportunities arise, I will invite you to do the same.

The second commitment is really far easier and will have a more immediate impact. I intend to be more aware of the consequences of my purchasing decisions, beginning with coffee. The production of many major brands of coffee involves the clear cutting of rain forests and/or paying farmers less for harvested coffee beans than it cost to produce, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. So, my commitment is to purchase only fair trade coffee which is better environmentally and pays a fair wage to the coffee farmer. I have, in fact, provided fair trade coffee to be used in Immanuel’s kitchen.

Fair trade coffee is available in some grocery stores. Look for the "Fair Trade" label. I will be placing occasional coffee orders through the Lutheran World Relief Equal Exchange Project. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to order coffee through LWR. I would be happy to order it for you.

In any case, with such a simple beginning, I believe we can "do justice" in the world.

In Christ,