Reason Six is Righteousness
The first book I remember from childhood consisted of the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes. I can still picture the color illustration of children hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Hunger and thirst we adults understand as a metaphor in Matthew’s gospel, but what’s the object of this desire?
What is righteousness? Who is righteous? Who yearns for righteousness?
(1) Is it the PRIG, who is critical and judgmental toward others? A self-righteous, holier-than-thou goody-two-shoes asking, “Why can’t you do things the right way?”
(2) Is it the PURIST, the self-critical stickler complaining, “Why can’t I ever get it quite right?”
(3) Is it the PROPONENT, the advocate or crusader for what, in his or her opinion, is right? The person who protests, “Keeping human
beings confined with barbed wire just isn’t right!”?
(4) Or is it the PRINCIPLED person who walks the walk, who practices what he or she preaches?
Although the higher the number on this list, the greater our respect for the person, righteousness can include all four of these aspects. Also, an individual may, depending on the situation, manifest any of these types of behavior.
Andrew Basden (“Writings on Christian Topics,” www.abxn.org) says:
We tend to think of “justice” as something public, and often think of it as retribution. When we say “I want justice”, we often mean “I want my rights (often from another, or for the legal system to give us redress)”. On the other hand, we tend to think of “righteousness”, if we think of it at all, as a property of an individual (e.g. the old singing group ‘The Righteous Brothers’), and usually of the private sphere.
But, in the Bible they are the same word, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. One Hebrew and one Greek word is used for both, and seldom translated into any other word.
We wrongly confine righteousness to personal morality and justice to retribution. The same writer defines righteousness/justice as “right relationships among all things in the created order of things.”
In creating the stories and characters in From the Lives We Knew (which felt more like receiving and transmitting them), I wasn’t conscious of a concept like righteousness. As I prepare to share them with you, however, I find it intriguing to look at the main characters and ask whether and how each one desires right relationships among all things.
Two or three main characters advocate non-violence, autonomy, and freedom from oppression. When these people are judgmental, they direct their criticism toward tyrants rather than toward each other. I think they all show honesty and integrity; however, characters that didn’t make this list are dishonest.
Well, tell me after you read From the Lives We Knew, okay? I have a hunch you’ll view the characters differently from me, and I’d love to get your reaction.
