"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways... I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”
Theodore Parker, theologian and abolitionist, wrote those words as part of an 1850 monograph.
His almost alchemical words were so perceptively poignant that their echoes could be heard in the underlying tenants of Abraham Lincoln’s epic address at Gettysburg.
Words so powerful, so profound, that more than a century later, Martin Luther King would famously cement them into history when proclaiming that the fight for civil rights would never be lost - could never be lost. As evidence, King avowed, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Indeed, this metaphysical arc, as it bends across the universe, is inescapable. The pull of its path, infinitely more powerful than you might think, redirects all things toward justice.
It is powered and governed, cosmically, by what can only be described as a kind of karma. In driven deeds, inherited debts and eternal imprints.
I believe, as Parker did, that souls move along the arc, ever heading, ever yielding, towards justice. That you can no more alter its course than ride a comet traveling 298 miles per second and steer it by windmilling your arms convincingly in the vacuum of space.
Our world has endured times of inexplicable and disturbing injustice. Like the dark, bleak days of World War II. Then, existential philosopher and Nobel Prize author Albert Camus, writing from the battlefield, urged us to believe that tragedy should never turn to despair. Himself traumatized by the carnage, he wrote that the world would eventually recover their humanity, heal, and bend back toward normalcy – and justice.
Camus urged that no matter the tragedy, the world will heal. That justice will prevail.
And it does. It has. It will.
Perhaps by the Hand of our God. Every holy religion – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism and others – espouses the basic tenant of undeniable justice. The Buddhist teachings say, “Hurt not others with that which pains yourself or in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. One should seek for others the happiness one desires for one’s self.” Many of these religions hold varying beliefs on the purpose of the reincarnated soul, almost always associated with justice.
Sometimes, we are offered that it is ours to create the boundaries of righteousness. We may be presented with choices: faithfulness or infidelity, honesty or duplicity, happiness or sacrifice, affirmation or hurt, truth or manipulation. Love or hate.
In these moments, we should choose carefully. We will be pulled toward the path, across the long arc. But the universe is patient. You will carry your choices. Own them to try again.
From Parker to Lincoln to King. From Ghandi to the Dalai Lama. The words are true. The arc is long and bending to no one. For everyone.
It has always been the time to choose "what you can't not do." To strike a path toward freedom, equality, hope, truth, fairness and protection. Selflessness.
Perhaps I can describe it like this. Lay your path as if it were an underground railroad. Of any kind, any length. Of any material. For any noble justice. Build it. Own it.
Ultimately, the karmic force of the universe is upon you, pushing you along the arc - towards justice.
So do what you can't not do.
