Justice towards self, a real mystery
Who even are we?
The School for Housewives offers short lessons about long things — a sort of “Life Curriculum 101.” The idea is to touch on certain topics and leave you to ponder; the best kind of education, as it trusts in you — your mind and your conscience.
We housewives-in-training (that means, all of us) have to philosophize at our kitchen sinks or while lying awake at night feeding the baby or in other ways tending to our busy households, so we don’t have much time for ivory towers.
I’m therefore leaving a lot out, but —let the reader understand!
The previous lessons on Justice are here (giving God His due) and here (giving others their due).
The last topic in our introductory survey is Justice towards Self, which is the hardest one, because of the difficulty of knowing ourselves.
Walker Percy writes*, “… the self, is in fact the only alien in the entire Cosmos.”
How to take care of a creature we hardly know! We owe God gratitude for having made us, and every creature, including my self, deserves proportionate solicitude.
Certainly, this virtue requires us to sleep, eat, and notice what makes us peaceful, providing it as we are able.
We owe it to ourselves to stand up for ourselves when the situation demands it; the legitimate claims of authority don’t override our dignity as creatures of the Father.
We owe it to ourselves to make sure we pursue the virtue of justice in all things: abnegation of self, a Christian virtue, doesn’t allow for neglect of justice in all its forms — hence the paradox and the challenge!
The daughter of God includes everyone — also herself — in this passage from the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31:
Open thy mouth for the dumb, and for the causes of all the children that pass. Open thy mouth, decree that which is just, and do justice to the needy and poor…
… the law of clemency is on her tongue.
Justice in every respect implies justice in all respects, including to the self, because the order of justice is itself part of justice.
Portrait of a woman as Ruth (c. 1853) by Francesco Hayez
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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take what I’m saying — ideas that come from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children — and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
these justice posts have given me so much to think about.
Not that it takes much, but I am a bit confused 🫣 are you saying that in order to be just to one self, on must fight for justice for others (aka the quote about fighting for justice for children and the needy etc?)