[bluidkiti]

May 8

Quote of the Week

“I usually want justice only for myself.”

When I was new in the program, I was filled with self-pity by how unfair life was. I pointed fingers at all the people, places and things who that had done me wrong and asked where the justice was. “Why aren’t people making amends to me?” I asked. “What about all the hard I had endured through the years?” I bemoaned to anyone who would listen. “There is no justice in the world,” I said. “If life were fair, then things would be better,” I truly believed.

Until one day when an old timer confronted me and asked me if I really wanted the world to be fair. I indignantly said, “Yes!” He looked at me and told me he was thankful life wasn’t fair because if it was, then he would be in prison for some of the things he had done. He looked me straight in the eye and asked me where I would be if life were truly fair. That shut me up.
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What I’ve come to realize now is that none of us are saints. We’ve all acted the best we could have given our awareness and where we were at the time. And I’ve learned that there is something more important than justice, and that is forgiveness. It’s much easier to be self-righteous than it is to practice love and tolerance, but that is the path to freedom and serenity. I now recognize the selfishness in wanting justice for myself, and instead pray for the knowledge of God’s will and the power to carry that out.