Do you believe in ultimate justice?

Divine retribution. Karma. Comeuppance. Call it what you will.

If you believe this is a strange question for a storyteller to ask, you may not have been paying attention. All stories, even fiction, deal with questions of morality. Indeed, westerns and science fiction are the paradigm of morality plays. So, let’s dive in and ask, do you believe in ultimate justice?

I do. My belief helps me cope with the never ending litany of injustice that I see in life. I’ve lived almost seventy-eight years in which I’ve come to learn what momma meant when she said, “Life isn’t fair.” No, it isn’t, is it?

What does justice look like? I’m not sure. I’ve rarely spotted anything that I even suspected was just. However, I’ve witnessed plenty of injustice.

I’m pretty convinced that OJ Simpson murdered his wife. I know that he is innocent. That contradiction is the very definition of injustice. I knew that he was going to be acquitted as I listened to the prosecutor, Marsha Clark, deliver her opening at the televised trial. When she got lost in her delivery and turned to Judge Ito to ask for help, I saw justice flee as he shrugged in response and told her, “It’s your opening.” I knew then that if I were sitting on that jury, I would vote to acquit even if I had witnessed the crime myself.
This is why I and some others believe in ultimate justice. We have to so we can keep our sanity. I honestly believe that some day in this life or some other, OJ will get his comeuppance. So will every other criminal who ever got away with it. So will every politician who violated the public trust. So will Jimmy who knocked me down when I was trying to impress Sally. Sorry, that’s another story…