This was our chance to give back. The energy is high that evening back at the work camp. In the cafeteria, freshly showered volunteers talk excitedly among themselves about their work that day, their observations about the region, and the pains in their joints. Some people think social change is a big, dramatic transformation that happens over a few weeks. His face looks sunburned from the day's work.
Social justice happens step by step.
Murphy, who splits his ministry between two North Carolina UU churches, has worked actively for civil rights since the mid-1960s, when, he says, he was the youngest member of the San Francisco chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. This week, he drove 14 hours with one of his congregants to put in a few days in Boligee. We have to learn about keeping justice. It's possible to lose what you've gained if you don't stick with it. This experience reminds me that we don't pay nearly enough attention to rural justice.