PEACE WEEK 2016: DAY 4: ECONOMIC JUSTICE: TERRI TALLEY, ALL CHAPELS SPEAKER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14:   ECONOMIC JUSTICE
From Center for Economic and Social Justice
One definition of justice is “giving to each what he or she is due.” The problem is knowing what is “due”.

Defining Social Justice

Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.

Defining Economic Justice

Economic justice, which touches the individual person as well as the social order, encompasses the moral principles which guide us in designing our economic institutions. These institutions determine how each person earns a living, enters into contracts, exchanges goods and services with others and otherwise produces an independent material foundation for his or her economic sustenance. The ultimate purpose of economic justice is to free each person to engage creatively in the unlimited work beyond economics, that of the mind and the spirit.

Oklahoma Bombing Survivor, Mrs.Terry Talley spoke at all chapels today. Our Peace Week speakers on Economic Justice Days will be at chapel in October during End Hunger in Oklahoma Month.  YAC Peace Team Member, Sahanya B. introduced Mrs. Talley at Upper Division Chapel. Father Blizzard introduced Mrs.Talley in MD and LD chapels.


The Education Director of the Oklahoma National Memorial, Mrs.  Lynne Porter brought the following items from the museum which are on display at the Student Center.

1. The Hope Trunk: The Hope Trunk: An Offering of Positive Education is a program using the story of the bombing to educate students about the senselessness of violence and the need to find more peaceful means to solve our differences. The trunk, which a school may use for two weeks, contains artifacts, visual materials, and classroom exercises that may be used as a stand alone unit or incorporated into regular math, geography and reading/literature lessons. Shipping is provided courtesy of FedEx.

2. Reflective Resilience: A collage of service projects from 2001-2005 created by Brandon Spivey'2005

For Reflection: Before you move on to Mission #4, reflect on yesterday's mission. Where did wonder call to you from? What did it feel like to experience states of wonder, and was it easier or more challenging that you thought to experience it? How might allowing yourself to experience wonder more often benefit your life and others? Share your reflections on the Compassion Report Map!

Our fourth mission, Agents, is to unleash the power of generosity for the benefit of the Global Village and our well-being.   Agents, what comes to your mind when you think of the humble bumble bee? In essence, each bee must give their gifts generously to ensure every bee can live, just like our lungs breath the oxygen the heart beats, providing the nutrients to every cell in our bodies. Today, think of all the roles other people or other forces of nature play in your life that you depend on to live. Did you make your clothes? What about the food you eat, did you grow it? We each depend upon so many others for our ability to even meet our most basic needs! Agents, our mission today is to be generous to others with our time, attention, and deed in honor of our interdependence to one another. Knowing that our actions can lead to making a huge big impact on another's day, commit an act of generosity in a way you otherwise wouldn't think to. It could be as small as complimenting someone else's kindness or personality, to giving away some of your possessions to others. In the following video, Agents Oprah Winfrey and Louie Schwartzberg will guide us through the mystery and science behind generosity.   UN's Sustainable Development Goal: Decent Work and Economic Growth   Over the past 25 years the number of workers living in extreme poverty has declined dramatically, despite the lasting impact of the 2008 economic crisis and global recession. In developing countries, the middle class now makes up more than 34 percent of total employment – a number that has almost tripled between 1991 and 2015. Providing Decent Work and Economic Growth is one of 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to achieve the global unity that we seek. Learn more about the targets for this Goal here.