For me, there is no action for justice without faith

For one of my classes I was asked to write about spiritual approaches and practices that "nourish your faith-based action on behalf of justice." This was perplexing, because I have a spiritual practice like I have a workout regimen--I do things that could fit into one, but any appearance of an overall guiding pattern is purely coincidental. Mostly, I nourish my spirituality by thinking about religious ideas. So this is how I responded.
 
"Eschatological" means mindful of the Reign of God. 
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I often wonder how people who don't have a faith-based, or specifically an eschatological, view of the world do social justice at all. Service is one thing: the rewards of helping another human being are wired into our brains. But work for systemic change, where you have to constantly remind yourself that because you are making spreadsheets, hustling donations, or kissing up to Senators, the world will become new? What a feat of will it takes to sustain that hope, even for someone taught to expect that Easter yearly returns. 
 
There are Catholics who extol the crucifix and don't want to see the resurrected Christ over their altars. They have a point: the security of forgiveness and renewal can make us lazy. What if we neglect the widow and the orphan: won't we still be forgiven? The answer is not to scare the faithful with the cross, but rather to paint a picture of hope running over into action. God's desire can make a better world, but that doesn't mean that we have no part in it. It is not because the women waited that Jesus rose, but because they waited, they were privileged to see it happen.
           
In fact, the only way I remain committed to action for justice is through my Catholic faith. Although I know from a student's standpoint that the Bible and the lectionary have both been touched by human hands and prejudices, there's no getting around the fact that on any given Sunday, you're likely to hear Jesus talking about the poor. Teaching the social outcasts and nomads who were his disciples about helping the poor. No excuses for them based on ability or station: Jesus was the consummate idealist. You are physically capable of taking this action, yes? I imagine him saying. Then why aren't you?
           
Sometimes prayer strengthens and sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes Scripture inspires and sometimes it seems to chide. That's when I allow myself to fall back on the Resurrection, when I don't have enough time or energy, or know too well that I could be doing more. The central message of my faith is one that workers for justice need to hear: that out of seeming tragedy and failure God has worked to change the world.