Justice An Occasion of 500 Words

Sometimes, as a writer we have nothing to write.  I just finished a 13 hour day at my 'day' job. Now, I sit down exhausted, tired muscles, sore feet.  I know that if I show up to write the muse will take over for me.
She will make sure I get my writing exercise completed.  I am involved in a challenge to write 500 words a day. They do not have to be perfect, or awe-inspiring.  They simply need to be words.
Sometimes I get entire flushed out articles written as a part of the challenge; sometimes I don't.

 +Jeff Goins suggested we write about justice today.  He is the sponsor of the 'My 500 Words' challenge.  I would need to do a little research on Martin Luther King Jr. or Gandhi or Nelson Mandela to truly get a good launch on that subject.  And in all honesty I don't think I have the energy to get behind a post about justice. But I do have my trusty thesaurus here with me.  I keep it on my writing desk for just such an occasion. 

Justice is a sense of fair play, equity, what is right, what is honest or what has a morale.  Justice is one of those big idea words.  When we feel we are not being treated fairly or honestly we get upset, angry, and sometime vengeful. We feel slighted.  We feel as if we have not received our due.  But who is to  measure what we should receive as just?  Two stories come to mind.

Justice a Piece of Cake

A mother has two children close in age a girl and a boy.  They are always fighting over possessions.  If the girl has a doll the boy will want it.  If the boy has a football the girl will want it.  If the boy concedes the possession to the girl the girl will immediately become upset when the boy chooses another possession. 

One day the mom makes a cake.  She knows if she cuts the cake the children will fight over who get which piece. Mom decides to let the children be the measure of justice.  One child is allowed to cut the cake but the second child will be allowed to choose the first piece.  Mom has  allowed one child to be the measure of justice.  One child will be in charge of what is fair and the second child will be partake in the fairness of the offer.  The child who cuts the cake is being taught a genuine lesson in fairness and equity.  

Justice A Child Cut in Two

There is much debate on a this story about a king named Solomon who was considered quite wise and just.  I will recount the story with only the aide of my waning memory.  Two women who were prostitutes came before Solomon fighting over a child.  The two women had a child within days of each other.  One child died and was swapped with the living child.  This occurrence brought the two women before the king to get justice.  There were no witnesses to the incident and neither woman would concede to the other.  The measure of justice was up to King Solomon.  Solomon decided the way to administer justice what to cut the child in two and give a half to each woman. Now that's justice!  The first woman begged that Solomon not cut the child in half and give the living child to the other woman.  The second woman agreed that the child should be cut in half and each be given the (obviously) dead half of the child. Solomon immediately knew that the first woman was the true mother as she pleaded for the life of the child.  

I don't know if that is a story about justice or wisdom.  Maybe it is about both. Maybe, just maybe it is teaches us that it is difficult to have one without the other. 

So there is the 500 words.  I sat down with nothing to write about.  But I showed up.  My muse came along with the help of a prompt from +Jeff Goins and  a little story about justice was created. An occasion of 500 words about nothing or was it about justice? 

You be the judge!

Thanks for reading.