AUGUST: WISDOM IN THE MIDST OF CHANGE

Read It: Micah 6:8​
He has shown 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[a] with your God?
Look Closer: 
     For many families, August ushers in a time of transition. New “years” begin at childcare centers and schools. The pace of summer gives way to the new pace of fall. I remember that even when our children were too young for school schedules and our jobs didn’t follow the school year, August always felt like a turning point. The community of the prophet Micah is in the midst of a pretty major turning point (look at “Spiral Deeper” for more on that). There was such uncertainty in their world. And the prophet Micah gave them poetic words of wisdom to live by in that time. This month’s scripture and practice encourage families to live by these words in the changes that come with August - and to remember them in all the changes and transitions to come.
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Spiral Deeper: ​
  • This beautiful passage has been memorized frequently in Sunday school curriculum, but it often is not put into its context. Micah is not a long book of the Bible - consider reading the whole book. You’ll notice that it’s quite the combination of encouragement, judgment, hope, and lots of other things.
  • Most Hebrew prophets weren’t writers. They were written about (like Elijah, Nathan, and many others). For some reason, in the eighth century B.C.E, some Hebrew prophets began to write, mostly in poetry, and it's these artistic writings that we have in our Bible. We tend to assume that modern prophets are speakers, but I wonder - who are our artist-prophets today?
  • Micah mentions some things that date his writing to happen sometime after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, but before the destruction of the Southern Kingdom - so sometime after 701 B.C.E. It would have been a time of significant political unrest and anxiety, with pressure from the enemy Assyria infringing on daily life. 
  • In times of change and unrest, the people need to know what to cling to. Micah, among some other prophets, seem to set ethical behavior (like Micah 6:8) above the Temple cult as the thing to cling to.
  • Vocabulary time! This is a beautiful passage, but how to explain it to a young child (or, let’s be real, how to understand it ourselves)?
    • “He has told you, O mortal”: We often assume the “he” is God - but there’s a good chance Micah just means, “the prophets who came before.”
    • “What does the Lord require of you” - Here’s what’s most important. This is what God asks us to focus on.
    • “Do justice” - in a nutshell, do the right thing! And any time “justice” is used in scripture, it does imply a certain activism. Standing up for what is right.
    • “Love kindness” - this is hesed, often translated as “mercy” or “steadfast love” or “loving kindness.” Really, this means to practice this kind of active love. I remember as a child thinking it meant I should love kindness, which is quite different!
    • “Walk humbly with God” - this one’s hard! Walking humbly means having an accurate view of our own importance in the world. It means realizing every human is a child of God, and valuing ourselves equally with others. And it’s a way of moving in creation, recognizing it as God’s earth. Walking humbly through the world is an attitude, valuing the health of the whole over our momentary convenience.
Pray It  
​God, sometimes new things are exciting and sometimes they’re kind of scary. You are here with us, however we feel. Help us to do what is right, to practice love, and to remember that you love us and you love the whole world. Amen.  
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Do It  
  • Theme Verse: Make this passage your theme for the year! Read it, recite it, display it. Even if your children are very, very young, this can be a helpful practice for your family. Here are some ideas of ways to incorporate it into daily life:
    • Create a rearview mirror tag - you can do a pretty rough-and-ready version with scissors to cut it out, markers to write it, and packing tape to “laminate” it so it doesn’t rip off. With this hanging in your car, find moments to read it together - as you pull out of the driveway in the morning, in transition moments from one activity to the next…
    • Find an old board and paint the passage on it, then hang it somewhere in your house that you’ll notice it daily.  For these purposes, you could even shorten it to, “Do Justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly.”
    • Make placemats (again, if you don’t have access to a laminator, use a little packing tape!). That can cue you to say the verse every time you sit down at the table.
    • Make backpack tags. Buy plastic tag holders, then let everyone write (or color) the verse on their tag. Pop them in the tag holders, and the verse will go with you everywhere!
    • Learn the song version of this passage (an oldie but a goodie!) and sing it as part of your child(ren)’s bedtime routine.
  • Back-to-School Ritual: If your child(ren) are headed to a new year of childcare or school, have a back-to-school blessing with them. You’ll make this your own, but here’s an idea of how it can flow:
    • Ask them, “What are you thankful for or most excited about for the year to come?” and, “What do you need help with or what are you nervous about?” 
    • Say something along the lines of, “God is always with us. Sometimes we can just feel that God is there, and sometimes we can’t, but God is always there. When you’re excited or nervous or need help, you can tell God about it. And God wants us to know that when we have new things happening like this, we just need to remember to stand up for what is right, be kind, and remember that everyone is a child of God.”
    • Gather as a household around each child in their own turn, and pray for them as they begin their new year.
​​Explore It: Notes from Tami
      It is normal for young children to be egocentric, to have difficulty understanding the feelings of others, and even more difficult to know how to express the empathy that they feel. Though we all continue to be a work-in-progress, we are the most important models for them to learn from. They pick up what they experience from us. We also can be very intentional in guiding them to become kind individuals. These resources provide some excellent insights and practical suggestions.