dignity

As you can see, I still get lattes sometimes. :) Last week, I spent a while sitting at a cafe reading this book. I had attended a book-talk by Donna Hicks at my favorite bookstore a few weeks ago, and ended up with this book in my to-read pile. When I first saw this book, I was intrigued by the topic, but did not think it related too much to my work or life, since it was largely based on international conflict resolution.

However, I got the book because one thing I am trying to grow in right now is treating my clients with more dignity. As they have often gone through shameful and belittling experiences, it seemed like an important part of my contact with them is to counteract this sense of powerlessness, and to treat them with a sense of importance. But it was still not clear in my mind how this was to happen - how do you treat someone with dignity?

This book addresses this - not only on the international nation-states scale, but also on the personal face-to-face level. It's been helpful in not only thinking through how I treat my clients, but also how I treat my neighbors, friends, and family. It has provided a lot of fuel for thought in terms of what I want to teach my kids - how to treat others knowing their God-given worth. As I think about what it means to teach my children about God, His heart for people and His heart for justice, this seems foundational.

But even as I start thinking through how to teach my kids, I am struck by how much I need to learn and live out. How do my actions foster an environment of inclusion, especially to those who are easily left out? How do I acknowledge another's history and sensitivies in conversation and decision-making? Am I able to give the benefit of the doubt and do I desire to understand more than to share? Am I fair in the ways I treat and think about others?

As I think about this concept of "justice" and what it means for myself and my family, I think more and more, I'm drawn to the fact that at the foundation of it all is the need to see and treat people for who they are - created in the image of God, with inherent dignity and importance, and a desire to be known and understood. I hope it is out of this that I may enter into works of justice and, by God's grace, teach my children what it means to be just.