A few years back, someone asked me what my Biblical "Life Verse" was. I had not even thought about what verse might guide my life - I doubted if I would have a single verse that would guide a minute of a typical, hectic day. But in the midst of the search, during a vacation bible school that Carly Rowe and I were coordinating at the Cathedral, we came a cross a song that was based on a verse from the prophet Micah. The chorus of the verse was, "Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly, humbly with your God." Naturally, those words lifted in song by elementary voices made the verse irresistible and powerful.
Our New Revised Version of the text of Micah 6:8 is a little different:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Our New Revised Version of the text of Micah 6:8 is a little different:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
When I read the words from my study Bible, I felt I had been hit by lightning. All of my life, I have tried to do what is right, what is fair, what is just, and to encourage it in others. All of my life, I have tried to love kindness, to show kindness to others, to encourage that right action in others, and to provide safe and healthy environments where kindness is normal. And as a person who has been given much by God and by others, through industry, study, and development, I have always said that all of my gifts are God's, and I am humbly allowed to share them with others.
At this time, however, through several prompts around me, I am drawn to the requirement that I "do justice." The news is filled with injustices that seem insurmountable: the economic injustices of Wall Street who engage in risky profit-driven practices which continue to put 99% of the population's welfare, industry, and lives at stake. The social injustices of our criminal justice and penal systems that has created an income line placing fines on those who are arrested and incarcerated. The paternalistic injustice that allows wealth to corrupt, and for the corrupt to become powerful, and for that power to prevent wealth from effecting the common good.
At this time, however, through several prompts around me, I am drawn to the requirement that I "do justice." The news is filled with injustices that seem insurmountable: the economic injustices of Wall Street who engage in risky profit-driven practices which continue to put 99% of the population's welfare, industry, and lives at stake. The social injustices of our criminal justice and penal systems that has created an income line placing fines on those who are arrested and incarcerated. The paternalistic injustice that allows wealth to corrupt, and for the corrupt to become powerful, and for that power to prevent wealth from effecting the common good.
I and others from our church attended the Inter-Church Ministries of Erie County's continuing education event, "Creating Common Good: A Practical Conference for Economic Equality," partnered with the Trinity Wall Street (TEC) Institute, which presents conferences, workshops, and extraordinary dialogues for in which people of all faiths (and even none at all) share visions and ideas on how to make this world a better, safer, and holier place. Hearing the words of Dr. Cornell West, Barbara Ehrenreich, and The Most Reverent Justin Welby (our own Archbishop of Canterbury) was inspiring, unsettling, and challenging.
++Justin provided a statement which resonated especially with me: "Complacent, lazy churches accept inequality without challenge." It took me aback. I believe that we, in our outreach, are doing our best to countermand the course of injustice in wealth distribution. We support our local food banks, we extend our hands to needy beyond our borders through our regular contributions to the the Episcopal Relief and Development, we have opened our church building to those who have a spiritual and educational need.
But coupled with the Micah "What does the LORD require of you..." is a reminder that it is our charge to DO justice, not to tolerate injustice. As we can certainly celebrate our impact on our community, our region, our world, we must always ask ourselves if there is something else, another word to be spoken, another action to be done, which might also bring God's will for humanity and the world into being.
In the evening, after this provocative conference, I attended the Erie Playhouse's production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. By the end, I was inspired, upset, and challenged - another patron said to me, "This play is so timely." My reply was, "Yes. It is timely. And it SHOULDN'T BE." And then I asked myself, what can I do to DO justice, love KINDNESS, and still walk HUMBLY - and do all with GOD.
In Christ's Peace,
++Justin provided a statement which resonated especially with me: "Complacent, lazy churches accept inequality without challenge." It took me aback. I believe that we, in our outreach, are doing our best to countermand the course of injustice in wealth distribution. We support our local food banks, we extend our hands to needy beyond our borders through our regular contributions to the the Episcopal Relief and Development, we have opened our church building to those who have a spiritual and educational need.
But coupled with the Micah "What does the LORD require of you..." is a reminder that it is our charge to DO justice, not to tolerate injustice. As we can certainly celebrate our impact on our community, our region, our world, we must always ask ourselves if there is something else, another word to be spoken, another action to be done, which might also bring God's will for humanity and the world into being.
In the evening, after this provocative conference, I attended the Erie Playhouse's production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. By the end, I was inspired, upset, and challenged - another patron said to me, "This play is so timely." My reply was, "Yes. It is timely. And it SHOULDN'T BE." And then I asked myself, what can I do to DO justice, love KINDNESS, and still walk HUMBLY - and do all with GOD.
In Christ's Peace,
Shawn+
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