2020 Spiritual Hero Bryan Stevenson

Each year, Science of Mind magazine honors a Spiritual Hero, someone whose work changes lives, someone who lifts others through spiritual dedication, someone who is from a faith tradition other than Religious Science. This year, our Spiritual Hero is Bryan Stevenson, someone who dedicates his life to helping the most vulnerable receive the legal aid they need and deserve.

Stevenson became something of a household name in the United States when his book Just Mercy was released as a movie in 2019. After the movie’s release, he said, “I do hope people who see [Just Mercy] will walk away with a great consciousness about why we need to do better in this country when it comes to creating a justice system that is fair and reliable.”

His work, especially with death-row inmates, and his life lend truth to his belief that “hopelessness is the enemy of injustice.” He describes his philosophical basis for this belief: “We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.”

We may not each be called to the same work in the same ways, but we share the responsibility to repair the conscience of our nation, to stand up and stand in the gap for those who have lost hope, lost their way, lost their voice.

“The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment,” Stevenson says, “the more I believe it’s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice and — perhaps — we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”

Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, the Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States. EJI challenges racial and economic injustice and protects basic human rights for the most vulnerable people.

The website www.EJI.org confirms the organization’s commitment to “changing the narrative about race in America.” And it extends this invitation: “You can help change the narrative of racial difference. … Learning the truth about our history and its legacy is the first step to engaging in meaningful conversation about solutions.”

"Gratitude is one of the chief graces

of human existence

and is crowned in heaven

with a consciousness of unity.”

— Ernest Holmes

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