Terence Lester - When We Stand: The Power of Seeking Justice Together

I met Terence Lester on a panel in Atlanta. He spoke of Love Beyond Walls; I shared details about Homeboy Industries: a gang intervention program I founded thirty-two years ago in Los Angeles. At one point, Lester told us how much fruit hed gained from Henri Nouwens writings. I then mentioned, on the panel, that Nouwen had been my professor at Harvard Divinity School. Suddenly, we connected. I shared Nouwens sentiment that ministry is simply a willingness to receive people.

When We Stand helps us all to connect. The homies at Homeboy Industries say, We are used to being watched. We arent used to being seen. This book helps us imagine exactly the kind of thing that Love Beyond Walls practices. It articulates the principles of a movement where we see people and receive them. It asks us to see the folks who are on the margins: the abandoned and the despised, the demonized and the disposable. This dynamism, both seeing and receiving, restores us all to a state of dignity and to our inherent nobility. When We Stand alters our hearts; things then settle for us... first things recognizably first. We choose to live in each others hearts. We are connectedas surely as Terence and I were on that panel a long time ago.

I write this during World War Cthe era of the Covid-19 crisis. During this time, we are all together... at home. As a homie said to me, Our physical doors are locked, but our spiritual doors are wide open. A homegirl texted me, terrified of the isolation: Im afraid Im gonna lose it. I told her, No... youre going to gain it. By it, I meant a newfound resilience, an expansive sense that were all in this together, a spacious new way to be a community. Well gain all that.

Terence Lester, his work and his writing, reminds me of the Zen saying: The finger pointing to the moon... is not the moon. Terence points to it. He signposts this larger love, beyond himselfand beyond our own self-absorption. Terence invites us to embrace a love that is without measure and without regret. It connects us. And therein lies our joyeven in a time of uncertainty and pandemic.

In such times, we rely on a voice like Terence Lesters. It beckons us to joy, in spite of everything. It knows what can scale the walls that divide and keep us from each other. It widens the circle and were astounded at how thrilling it is when we know, finally, that our separation has always been an illusion. We are meant, after all, to embrace kinship and connection. We are grateful to have been reminded. In precisely this way, Terence Lester is the shape of Gods heart.

R ight now, you have every injustice in the world at your fingertips. At this very moment, billions of people all around the globe are accessing content that has been shared on social media platforms with ease from their smartphones or the latest technological device. In many ways, our technology has become an intricate part of our daily lives. What content have you viewed in the last few moments? Think about it. While some people in the world are using technology to keep in touch with relatives, family, and friendssharing pictures and videos that help to close the distances between loved onesanother trend has simultaneously been emerging. Were all posting content that relates to injustices and disasters on social media, which means our awareness of the problems that exist in the world is ever increasing.

Its the start of a new decadeand we have already witnessed fires burn down parts of Australia and claim lives, two impeachment trials of the president of the United States and his ordering a missile attack inside Iran, news about children being taken away from their parents at the border, major storms displacing people in Puerto Rico, the spread of Covid-19, and the increased awareness of the racial divide in the United States. None of these headlines, though, seem to include the ways that people are responding to the issues of poverty or economic inequality, or the effects of war, slavery, or violence, with offerings of help. We seem to be inundated with bad news without being given much hope of anything ever changing. Just last week, I came across an article that had been posted on social media about a man whothough experiencing homelessness had even been evicted from the woods.