There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
She was a mere five-feet tall, and a
physically-diminutive slip of a human being, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a big,
wide wake during her journey through this life, . She had a passion for people, particularly
those on the receiving end of discrimination.
“And [as characterized by Margaret Carlson] she
never raised her voice.”[1]
Whether you agreed with her decisions or
were more apt to view them as poison ivy, it was hard to dislike RBG. Born into a 1933 male-dominated world culture,
Ruth Bader experienced the kind of dismissive attitude women have endured for
many centuries. It led her (perhaps drove
her) to a career calling of making sure the laws of our land put
that dismissiveness in the garbage can.
Some would argue the fallout from her work on five “landmark” cases relative to the 14th Amendment (equal rights for women) went too far; others might say the fallout is necessary and long overdue. Nonetheless, her brilliance is hard to diminish. She often highlighted her arguments by championing a male discrimination victim to make the point that discrimination, against male or female, under any circumstance is wrong. She got her message across without the vitriol and mud-slinging which seems to characterize (and even define) the 21st century. Whether liberal or conservative in political thought, you must admire, and long-for the kind of respectful style RBG brought to the arena.
She was the first female (and first
Jewish citizen) to ever lie in state at the National Statuary Hall in the U.S.
Capitol.[3] As the memorializing began,
her Rabbi, Lauren Holtzblatt declared her life's work was "expanding the
'we' of 'We the People'". The
obvious inference is that women, children, LGBTQ, et al, have long been Constitutionally-invisible,
considering all men being created equal.
“Justice Ginsburg’s life’s work (was) to
insist that the Constitution deliver on its promise that ‘We the People’ would
include all the people.”[4]
This impressive life left behind a
legendary body of legal work on behalf of those who had a voice, but no
opportunity to speak; she fully pressed her calling.
Hardly in rebuttal, but rather in
contrast, I would not characterize Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s mission as
single-dimensioned, that women have always been invisible, particularly in the
eyes of God, who sees the stamp of His image on all persons. Truth be told – whether our voices may be (or
even won’t be) heard by the ears and hearts of human beings on earth, those
voices are never unnoticed; God in Heaven hears.
A life like RBG’s, well-invested on
behalf of the silenced, is more like a conversation in the holy thin places. God hears, and when God’s Spirit is moved
like the time Moses heard the voice from the bush that burned, whole nations
are apt to be turned on its ear.
For You Today
What about your calling? Do you speak for those who cannot?
And if you do
speak, do you find it necessary to raise your voice?
Title image: Ruth Bader Ginsberg
2016 portrait via Wikimedia W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Galatians 3:28 see: Inclusive and
Diverse and Dying
[1] Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Died. She Leaves Behind a Vital
Legacy for Women — and Men (Time
Magazine article by Margaret Carlson)
[2] Article, Town & Country
[3] Ibid.
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