Justice, Equity and Compassion—A Story

Once there were three sisters named Justice, Equity and Compassion.  Aside from the difficulties they had growing up with the names—Justice, Equity and Compassion—their parents, well, let’s just say they were never nominated for any parent of the year awards. They played favorites, then treated everyone equally; they lost their tempers, then showered the girls with love; they could be very cruel and tremendously kind.

 Each girl grew into the embodiment of her name. Justice closed her eyes and let the scale judge. Equity kept her eyes open and tried to balance the scale. Compassion’s eyes filled with tears, and she swept the scale away. They were at odds a lot.

When they were already young women, their parents had another child, and they had to learn to deal with a little brother—who their parents treated best of all.

One day, when they were walking, he threw rocks at them—wounding each. An Elder asked the girls what should be done.

 Justice puffed herself up and said, “Give us some rocks and we’ll show him what it feels like.”

 Equity sighed and said, “Each of us was only hit once—hitting him with three rocks wouldn’t be fair. Compassion took it the hardest. She should throw one rock.”

 Compassion’s eyes filled with tears when she saw her brother frightened and cringing. Still, she picked up a rock and took aim. She tossed it, but it fell far short.

 Still, the boy never again threw rocks at anyone—and the Elder took notice.

 When Justice, Equity, and Compassion grew to be Elders themselves, they were chosen to be the judges whenever someone transgressed. The sisters lived together, but they worked alone.

 A robber brought before Justice, landed in jail. Brought before Equity, worked to make restitution. Brought before Compassion, danced the happy dance.

 The other Elders were not pleased, and went to see the brother.

 He invited each sister to their parents’ home. The parents were quite old and far from well. Justice, Equity and Compassion were surprised to find themselves together, and demanded to know the reason.

 “It’s like this,” said the brother. “They are about to lose their house. As their family, it’s been left to us to decide what to do.”

 “That’s an easy one,” huffed Justice. “They treated you better than me, were always shouting, and terribly cruel. Some things can’t be forgiven. They’re on their own.”

 Equity sighed, “Sometimes they treated you the best, sometimes they were very loving, and sometimes they were kind. It will be a long time before I can forgive. But couldn’t we all just pitch in and help pay the bills? Compassion suffered the most, let her decide.”

 Compassion looked at her sisters and at her parents, and her eyes filled with tears. To Justice she said, “I understand our side, but I can’t just walk away.” To Equity she said, “I suppose that’s fair, but look at them, they need more than money, they need care.” “For myself,” I’d say, “I forgive you. Come and live with us.” Then she looked at her brother, whose name was Love, and asked “What do you think?”

 Love smiled, “There are no easy answers, but I think it’s time we all worked together.”

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 To affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations—another principle that rolls off the tongue. But not only can each of these concepts seem separate from one another, they mean different things to different people at different times and in different situations.

 There are no easy answers. We live our lives and our principles on a day by day, case by case basis. In some situations, turning the other cheek is the right thing to do. Sometimes you need to walk away. And yes, there are times when one needs to stand and fight.

 Then ten years later you can look back and think—Geez, I can’t believe I did that.

 Each of us, and everyone else, is a work in progress. And it’s the work we do that’s important, whether it is working to embody the Golden Rule or to live by our principles, the key is to work through events and relationships with love as the guide.