JUSTICE LESSON #1

Someone made an innocent mistake. She didn't realize that the wristbands were color-coded, or she simply forgot to ask, "Which team are you on?" It doesn't matter.

Her mistake went unnoticed for three days, but on the next to the last day of the Gathering, when the boys went to the "Early Restricted Session" at the Interaction Center, they learned a lesson about justice.

"You can't enter," the security guards said. "You have purple wrist bands, and today is the day for the Green Team's Early Restricted Session. Only green wrist bands can go in at 11 a.m."

The idea of giving each of the three colors their own three hour restricted session in the busy Interaction Center was a good one. For three hours our kids (and 12,000 of their closest team members) would have the full run of the place. The other 24,000 would have to wait till 2 p.m. to get in.

"But we are on the green team," James said. "No, you aren't because your wrist band is purple.," was the reply.

I was already about a half mile down the hall, just about to enter into a self-directed learning center when I got Laura's call asking me to intervene. She was waiting back at the Food Center with the girls until Megan got back from changing her shorts.

So off I went to see what could be done. Five minutes later I was there, pointing out to the Security People that obviously someone had made a mistake when handing out wristbands, and we didn't even realize there was a color code. Imagine being prevented from having what you had a right to have simply because of the color of your wrist!

We could have accepted their response and walked away. That would be a peaceful approach to the problem. But they realized that this was a matter of justice, and they waited for someone with a red shirt named Jermaine to come to hear them plead their case.

I must admit I was rather angry. This was not the first injustice we had encountered this week. On the first morning I went into the T-shirt distribution room with the two "Large" shirts we were given arbitrarily. Donna had realized we needed two "Extra Large" shirts and had tried to get an exchange only to be sent out to "negotiate" with people to trade them out. I took the shirts back to the same lady and told her what we needed, and when she told me to try what Donna had already tried, I told her I would simply stand there until I got the shirts I needed. We got the shirts exchanged.

This time I was there for the boys (and ultimately for the others as well). We told Jermaine that we had done our community service and the learning centers already and wanted to get in for the restricted session. I even offered to show her video on my camera from Thursday's outing. "I believe you," she said, and they let us in. Obviously someone had made a mistake and no one realized it until it mattered.

So what did we learn about justice? 1. Sometimes injustices occur because people make innocent mistakes. 2. Sometimes injustices are perpetuated by people who are simply trying to "do the right thing." 3. Sometimes force or the threat of force can intimidate people who are victims of injustice and deny them what they are due. 4. 5. Sometimes, if you know you are in the right, in order to rectify injustices you have to be willing to stand your ground. Sometimes injustices can be overcome without shedding blood.

No one planned such a lesson for us for today, but we did learn something from the experience.