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The Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa & Polynesia

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Jubilee

By / 9 February 2009

This Sunday I went to a church I had not been to before – an Anglican church running a slightly more contemporary mid morning service. The people were friendly and I was greeted warmly by several people who recognised a new face . As lovely as the service was, I couldn’t help being struck by a sense of Irony as a largely Pakeha church sang the song “Did You Hear the Mountains Tremble.”

Those words again; “…a time of Jubilee is coming…”

Jubilee was the time when all land was returned to its original owner. A system ensuring that power and wealth did not gradually pool upwards leaving people stuck in systemic poverty with little hope of climbing out. A lease hold economic market rather than a private ownership economic market. I realise a direct parallel is not applicable, yet there is surely cause for reflection – “Lord search us and know us.”

Back to the song; “…a mighty river through our nation.” A typical western symbol of justice is a blindfold lady holding balanced scales. Blindfolded, objective, dispassionate; when the balance is even, that is justice. A scriptural symbol is of a mighty flowing river, passionate, often in favour of the marginalised and dispossessed, seeking a return to relationship and wholeness whatever that might take.

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About us

This site is run by the Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church.

We seek to nurture justice spirituality and imagination, and engage in advocacy in all areas of life, overcoming poverty and transforming violence.

We encourage people to think and live “justly”, and emphasise debate and action on local, national and global issues.

Although we are Anglican, our vision isn’t so much about being Anglican. It’s about living justly. Justice is about how you live your life, and being just where we are. Working together, we can all flourish.

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