Yesterday a giant of justice fell and today we mourn.

 

For twenty-seven years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg spoke for the marginalized of society with her forceful, well-reasoned decisions and dissents on the Supreme Court. And in doing so, she was both faithful to the constitution and to human dignity and human rights. Rather than being faithful to the oppressive compromises in the founding document, through her decisions to uphold or strike down the laws passed by congress or the executive orders of the President she sought to move it toward equality and justice for all.

 

Today let us celebrate those years she served us and the ways she has helped make our country better for everyone. Her brilliant decisions and dissents will not die but continue to be part of the guiding jurisprudence of our law and legal system. Her dissents may yet become the basis for future decisions. Her decisions will protect good laws from challenge in the future. Let us be grateful for her noble service to the cause of justice.

 

Let us resist today, at least for today, the urge to focus on Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s replacement. Many of us were immediately outraged at the hypocrisy of Republican leaders who wouldn’t allow for the confirmation of Merrick Garland yet are eager to start picking her replacement. Power politics seem to be the order of the day under this current administration. Monday morning and every day afterwards, let us demand that her replacement be selected and confirmed by the President and congress that will be elected in November, representing the current status of the electorate not the one two or four years ago.

 

This evening, please join me for an online vigil honoring and remembering Ginsberg hosted by the Arlington Virginia Unitarian Universalist Church, led by the Rev. Amanda Poppei. The vigil will be on their Facebook page. Find it on Facebook here or go to Facebook “groups” and search for “Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia”. If you go to their page, you’ll find the live feed there.

 

For the great and the lowly, for the wealthy and the poor, for the wise and the foolish, all of us must die. Most of us cannot choose the way or the time. Time passes quickly and opportunities are lost. Every death of a great leader is also a moment to reflect on our own lives. Ginsberg lived a life of deep dedication to what she valued that was more important than her own individual life. She lived in service to us through her commitment to the law, the law that helps us all live together in peace.

 

May we honor her life.

May we appreciate the body of work she leaves behind.

May we cherish the values that guided her.

May we hold her dearly in our hearts as an exemplar of a good, just and honest human being.

 

                                               -Rev. Sam