Spirit of gentleness

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.
         
         

God 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?
         — Micah 6.8

Micah proclaims a three-dimensional faith. God calls us to love kindness, with gentle compassion toward others; and to walk humbly with God, with trusting, grateful companionship with God; and to do justice: to turn systems that hurt into systems that heal— with courageous, determined attention to the world, especially its poor and vulnerable. None of these stands alone. We don't retreat into humble intimacy with God without also caring for others. We don't only care for individuals without also changing the systems and societies that affect them. We don't charge into the fray to change the world without a spirit of kindness and humble trust in God.

What weaves all these together, making devotion, compassion and justice one, is faith: gentle trust in God's grace. We are rooted in God's gentle grace, in which the poor, the mourning, the hungry, the powerless and the persecuted are blessed. God does for us what Micah call us to do: God is kind to us, walks humbly with us, and transforms us from people who hurt into people who heal. Trusting in God's gentleness, and the power ofd that gentleness, we are bold to be gentle in this world, and to work to make the world more gentle.

May God's spirit of gentleness fill you, bless you and guide you this day, that you may do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
         
         
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
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