Bending the Arc

Rev. Parisa Parsa

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.”

These words from Unitarian minister and theologian Theodore Parker in 1853 have taken on new life in their more succinct form paraphrased by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (“The moral arc of the universe is long, but I believe it bends toward justice.) How do we calculate the curve and complete the figure of the arc, when so many well-intentioned folks have gone astray? What guides us in the work of creating justice, and what can keep us humble?