Of all the worship that is offered up to God, the book of Amos reveals that it is justice that God desires to receive. “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream”– Amos 5:24. As we seek the understanding of what it means to desire this justice, as well as the cry of the acts of injustice, we get a profound visualization of what this looks like when we look at a recent presentation by Bryan Stevenson at a TED talk. Bryan Stevenson is the Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama and a powerful voice for the voiceless.
Stevenson shares about his own experiences from the many encounters he has had with those that many would not pay attention to. “I spend most of my time in very low-income communities in the projects and places where there’s a great deal of hopelessness.” As Stevenson shares how he grew up, in his own words; “in a traditional African American household”, it was the words of his grandmother that still have a lasting effect on him as a man nearly 50 years later. It was these words that shaped the man who he is today. Because of the actions and choices in his life, because of the words his grandmother shared with him as a young boy, Stevenson shares that an identity is shaped and power that comes with the choices and lives that we live. “When we create the right kind of identity, we can say things to the world around us that they don’t actually believe makes sense. We can get them to do things that they don’t think they can do.” Continue Reading…
screen capture from bryanstevenson.com