Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Commitment to Equal Justice

 I watched as first a handful and then hundreds gathered at the U.S. Supreme Court building to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her loss is devastating. She worked her entire life to overcome sexism and to work for equality and justice for all. Her death, Sept. 18, coincided with the anniversary of my ordination to pastoral ministry at Yale 43 years ago, which brought back so many memories of discrimination and the need to persist.

Experiencing exclusion as a student, Ruth worked diligently and persisted to become a brilliant lawyer and the first woman tenured law professor at Columbia University. Ruth argued cases before the Supreme Court against discrimination, opening doors for women, and therefore also freedom for men. Her husband supported her, as has mine.

Ruth’s work as a judge and then a Supreme Court Justice will live on. Her commitment to the Court and the Constitution and her diligence in the face of her own illnesses is an inspiration. We must honor her life and her death-bed wishes. I give thanks for her, in more ways than I can say.