Micah 6:8

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?"

I've thought about this verse from the prophet Micah a bit; I'm always one to like a clear instruction, especially one relating to how to please God. Good with lists: that's me. There's something so self-satisfying in being able to check off the good things I've done. The problem is that self satisfaction is an oxymoron; at its best it's fleeting; at its worst it's a merciless treadmill of trying to create and do more and more things that make me feel like I'm good.

When I look at what Micah actually SAYS though, it's exactly the opposite of trying to please God through my own goodness. Check out this preceding passage:
With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

I hear Micah saying that it's not about all the sacrifices I can make; it's about throwing myself at God's mercy, and loving Him for it: realizing and living out that mercy trumps everything else, especially in things like judgement and justification of myself. To know that I just don't (and can't) quite cut it, but God loves me anyway... That is satisfaction!

Woga

Roy and I enjoy practicing yoga together; these days, Adriel doesn't like to be left out of the action. He was hogging my mat so much that I decided to stop and take a photo. He calls it "woga".

Unexpected help

 
While I was cooking dinner last night, for the sake of conversation I asked Adriel if he would help me set the table in a little while. Of course he was agreeable, but I didn't know that he had set to work this diligently. A few minutes later I walked out of the kitchen, and there was this! Needless to say, I'm proud of my boy.

To tell you the truth...

Recently someone commented to me that ever-popular phrase, "truth is relative." Is it? IF that is true -(just for the sake of argument, I'll assume it is) - must I assume that it is an idea belonging to some, unprovable, not really useful to humanity as a whole? I would propose that opinions are relative; perspectives are relative; dogma is (most often) relative; understanding truth is relative : the truth is not.

I believe God's Word, The Holy Bible, to be true and the truth; (that's just a faith thing with me.) It's where I turn when I want to get to the root of things like truth, and the meaning of life, and other such things. And yet, Jesus-God, through His inspired word, tells me that HE is the truth. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." When I think of Jesus saying this, I am suddenly aware of a very Personal aspect of truth. In a paradoxical way, this strengthens my faith that God's Word is truth too, since through it I learn of a Living Truth : an infinite, Creative source of all reality, far beyond the limited realms of my senses and intellect.

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(This unfinished post has been sitting on my computer for 4 days now.... I'm just going to post what thoughts I already have down, because I'm not getting back to it in a timely manner. To be continued, if possible.)