Act. Love. Walk.

A short meditation on Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8

I often come back to this verse when I feel stuck & in indecision.

What should I do with my life? What is really truly important? Here’s what came up in my journaling today.

There are three verbs in the verse that the writer says God requires: Act. Love. Walk.

Act.
There are things in this life that we must do. We must be active in this world. We cannot be passive to the suffering of others. We must not withdraw from suffering. We must Act.  We must not allow fear of making mistakes to paralyse us and prevent us from acting. We must engage in the battle for the good of our neighbour. This is our Divine mandate. True connection is participation, not separation.

Love.

We must love. Love is the very essence of the universe. Love is not sentimentality. Pure love is powerful. Pure love is justice. Indeed it is the only real power in the universe. God is love. God is the great lover. God’s rich love makes God poor. God has forgiven all debts. God has forgiven all that owe a debt to God. Love keeps no record of wrong. Love holds no claim against the beloved. Deep love is the ground of the universe.
We are in love & We are love. When we love we are our true selves. The false self may feel that love is unproductive but the false self is wrong. When we love we are most like God and when we are most like God we are most like our true selves.

Walk.

I believe that life is motion. Life is relationship. Life is flow. To be alive is to be in motion. Perhaps this is the same as saying “The journey itself is the destination.” Growth is change and if you find yourself standing still inside, there is a chance that you have stopped growing. At some point in life, you will be left alone. What’s left to do when all is quiet and when all is at peace is put one foot in front of the other. When you are alone you must do it. The spiritual journey is done alone. No one can go with you into that deep place. You must walk. You can not stay still. You have been given a path. You must walk. You must walk. You must walk. Do not stand still. You must walk. Do not stand still. You must walk.
You must.

If these three verbs are active in some way in my life, I believe that life is being lived and the Lord is pleased.