Less driving more reading

I have One More Commute into the city to go, next Tuesday. My, I'm tired. It's so much more stressful now, especially in the dark and rain. And my arms hurt today, from driving and typing, both before and after my massage therapy. Even though I know it's working and even though I know it takes a while, it would be nice to have a day where there isn't something hurting to some degree. But hey, it could have been much worse. And I'm tucked away at home now, in my snug cocoon, listening to the rain. One. More. Commute.

In other news, I picked up a little book about restorative justice (called, helpfully, The Little Book of Restorative Justice) from the library and learned more about its roots and themes. Its more recent development and applications in the justice system owe a lot to the Mennonite community, of whom I am now an adopted part, which makes sense given their pacifist leanings. Of course it has roots much further back, in Canadian and New Zealand aboriginal cultures in particular. I learned that the New Zealand juvenile justice system is based on restorative justice principles. Go Kiwis.

I was particularly intrigued by a table with bullet pointed lists of the differences between criminal justice and restorative justice (p21). Observe:

Criminal Justice
- Crime is a violation of the law and the state.
- Violations create guilt.
- Justice requires the state to determine blame (guilt) and impose pain (punishment).
- Central focus: offenders getting what they deserve.

Restorative Justice
- Crime is a violation of people and relationships.
- Violations create obligations
- Justice involves victims, offenders, and community members in an effort to put things right.
- Central focus: victim needs and offender responsibility for repairing harm.

Replace 'crime' with 'sin' and doesn't this look like two takes on 'salvation'? I'm no theologian, but even I can see there's something in there to learn, and that these days I would incline at quite an angle towards the second, 'restorative' approach, not least because it draws the eye less toward the 'offender' (us) and more toward the 'victim' (God) and because it's less about disembodied Law and more about relationship. Presumably then this aligns with Mennonite theology, but that's just a guess. I knew there'd be connections with spirituality. All Very Interesting. I'd like to look into this more.