It was one of those relaxed, sociable evenings. Conversations varied around the table. Charlotte and I were sitting at our regular Mexican haunt, a couple of friends with a couple of margaritas. I don’t know exactly how it came up, but at one point I commented that I’d been in the wrong line when boobs were handed out. Char’s reply was “I’d trade my boobs for your shoulders!” and we laughed at ourselves.

That night, I had a strange dream.

Souls were lined up in heaven, waiting to be born. I was among kindred spirits, listening with half an ear as a rather large archangel made assignments as the line moved forward.

“OK, you’re ready to go! Move to the right, please, for the soon-to-be-born. Next!!”

The Kindred Spirits and I were listening as we moved towards the archangel. Who – oh, it’s Gabriel. Michael was no doubt fighting Satan at the moment. We watched as more souls were assigned certain attributes and were directed to the soon-to-be-born line and the wait-until-later line.

“Next!” The soul in front of me moved forward, and I could hear Gabriel’s voice.

“God gives you the gifts of intelligence, fortitude, strength, beauty and faith. You will serve the Almighty in many ways, in a woman’s body. Plus, you get blonde hair, blue eyes and boobs.”

I heard the soul ahead of me take a deep breath. “Umm, shoulders?” she asked.’

“Shoulders?” said Gabriel. “Look, you’ll also make many dear friends throughout your life, and have a loving family.  But it doesn’t say anything here about shoulders. NEXT!” A nearby cherubim directed the soul to the soon-to-be-born line.

I moved forward.

“God gives you the gifts of intelligence, a love of music, and a pretty voice. You will serve the Almighty in many ways, in a woman’s body. You get fine hair and blue eyes, but you’ll be a chubby adolescent. Just don’t start smoking and you’ll be fine.”

“Umm, boobs?” I asked, holding my not-yet-existent breath.

“Boobs?” said Gabriel. “Hmmm, boobs not listed here. But you’ll have a loving family and make some great friends. Tell you what, we’re out of boobs, but I can give you some great shoulders. When you start crocheting all the shawls you’re gonna make, you’ll have the shoulders to drape ‘em on. NEXT!” The cherubim pointed me toward the wait-until-later line. I went, wondering when and if in life I would encounter the soul who’d been in front of me. As I went, I heard Gabriel’s words to the soul who’d been behind me. She, too, would be a woman of intelligence and faith. Gabriel’s words began to fade away as I moved to the waiting area, but I heard “…and you will rescue many cats. NEXT!” I wondered, again, when I’d encounter these and other Kindred Spirits.

I awoke with the words of Gabriel fading into the mist of a dream. As I rolled over to be greeted with a slurpy good morning from the dog (who had snuggled between me and my still-slumbering spouse), I wondered if Gabriel had said anything to me about dogs, husband and children. Probably not, no sense in spoiling the surprises that life brings. But hey, it was a dream, wasn’t it?

Wasn’t it?

This morning, I read something about fill-in-the-blank Justice. You know, these terms we hear so often that qualify Justice; this kind or that kind of Justice. I get what they’re trying to say, but if you have to put a qualifier on Justice, it isn’t really Justice.

To do so rips the blindfold off of Justice. She no longer holds a set of balanced scales; she now has a finger on one side. She’s looking at the situation, and gauging who’s who and what’s what. Some might argue that this is to offset INjustices that have occurred, and I get that. But continuing to call it Justice when it has a qualifier isn’t right. Call it something else, but don’t call it Justice.

In an interesting bit of synchronicity, today’s “Verse of the Day” in my Bible Gateway app (love that app) is Matthew 7:12:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Yes, that does sum it up. Sadly, we humans don’t always do that, which is why we have human laws and courts, and statues and depictions of Justice as blind. The prophet Isaiah wrote “Learn to do right; seek justice, defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17) Injustice is as old as humanity. Yes, we should all seek Justice, and do whatever we can to help the cause of those who are truly oppressed.

We also might miss the first thing that Isaiah says: Learn to do right. Again, like what Jesus said later, do the right thing. It’s that simple.

I read the “____ Justice” treatise in a statement issued by a large corporation, stating that they were making donations to entities and groups that fight specific injustices. That’s nice to know, although they don’t state exactly who they are donating to, and how they have vetted the organization(s). How they are just at home? How do they treat their employees? Do they treat their employees with respect? Is “treat others as you would like to be treated” a real part of their corporate culture? Is it in their employee handbook? Is be kind and fair treatment something they really take to heart and act upon every day, at all levels?

I think mosst people in this country do try to do the right thing. Sure, we’re human, and sometimes we falter and fail. But overall, most of us regular folks are trying to live out Jesus’ words of treating others as they would want to be treated. Most of us aren’t scheming to oppress an underclass or undertake a nefarious takeover of a company or a country.

It’s been said that those who loudly accuse are often the guiltiest of that which they accuse others of doing. I could expound on that, but I’ll refrain because there are plenty of examples out there. Just think about it, and remember that the next time you hear someone screaming about fill-in-the-blank Justice.