Author Archives: Bob Patrick

Justice: Bestowing Bounty, revisited

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Bob Patrick

Rumi calls justice “bestowing bounty in its proper place.”  I find that a powerful phrase to hold in mind and heart as I consider any sort of justice work that I give myself to.  In some real sense, those who … Continue reading →

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Justice: Conditions

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Bob Patrick

As I ponder justice, I keep encountering all of the conditions that seem to be in place whenever human beings speak of justice, injustice and social justice. There are the conditions that the suffering person is in. When we can … Continue reading →

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Justice: Bestowing Bounty

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Bob Patrick

What is justice? Giving water to trees. What is injustice? To give water to thorns. Justice consists in bestowing bounty in its proper place, not on every root that will absorb water. – Rumi Poetry invites, incites, and implicates.  At … Continue reading →

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Justice: Our Interactions

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Bob Patrick

Justice.  The roots of this word are ancient.  They appear all over the Latin language, but Latin was a late arrival.  The Sanskrit word “yu” is the root, which means to join. To join. Justice is a joining. The Latin … Continue reading →

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December 27–Hope: Friendship

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Bob Patrick

A friend recently reminded me of a quotation from the Roman orator, politician and philosopher, Cicero’s philosophical essay on Friendship.  In that essay, he notes that there are many benefits of friendship, but the greatest of those benefits is that … Continue reading →

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December 26–Hope: Not Blame

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Bob Patrick

What is the opposite of hope?  My first thoughts were hopelessness.  Hopelessness is still strangely in the realm of hope.  To be hopeless with all the pain and struggle implied by that experience still requires a hope–a hope that one … Continue reading →

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December 21–Hope: Change

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Bob Patrick

It’s been cold and wet and gloomy for many days now.  We even had a day of snow.  Today is a day of change.  Physically.  Globally.  The earth has tilted as far away from the sun in the northern hemisphere … Continue reading →

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