This year’s Scripture card is taken from Micah 6:8.  You will find a .pdf of the card as an accompanying attachment, for you to print as many copies as you would like – for yourself and others.

Click the image to print it and pin it up where you will see it each day, as a remembrance of the task (simple and straightforward, but very difficult to achieve in practice) that our God requires of us.

And here are a few dictionary definitions and quotes to think about:

Justice: fairness in the way people are dealt with.

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
Benjamin Franklin.

If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected–those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most–and listens to their testimony.
James Baldwin

A Thought: If people think about the word ‘justice’, they would tend to consider their nation’s law or constitution as the fundamental arbiter. This is essentially humanistic, given that such law is based upon the deliberations of government or imposed by ‘dictatorship’; it is also usually extremely complicated, needing legions of learned (and expensive) lawyers to decide on ‘right’ or ‘wrong’; perhaps worse, it is open to political interpretation and corruption. There can only be one basis for legal justice to be defined. You’ll find it in Matthew 22, verses 37-40.

Mercy: the quality of being friendly, generous, considerate, kind, selfless, compassionate, and forgiving; its greatest power revealed in practice to our enemies and amongst the least of these.

“Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Mark Twain

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
William Shakespeare

Another thought: Some Bible translations use the word ‘kindness’ rather than the word ‘mercy’ in Micah 6:8. This isn’t necessarily wrong – but I don’t think it goes far enough. While kindness is certainly an attribute of mercy, I think ‘forgiveness’ is an even more important facet. It’s easy to be kind to someone you love – but mercy makes demands over the way we deal with those who we do not love.

Humility: the quality or condition of being humble, having a modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance.
True humility Is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.
C.S. Lewis

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
‘Cause I get better lookin’ each day
Willie Nelson

And yet another thought: So essentially, if you think you’re humble, you aren’t. You can only, therefore, be humble if you don’t think you are. If you’re struggling with this apparent paradox, you’re not the only one – join the queue alongside Paul of Tarsus…

And never mind worrying whether you are or aren’t. Just be it.

A verse from ‘It came upon the Midnight clear’

And Man, at war with Man, hears not
The love-song that they sing
O hush your noise, Ye Men of strife
And hear the Angels sing.

Which could be paraphrased as ‘Shut up and listen and you’ll hear something worth hearing.’

But most of the time we don’t. We’re too busy to stop and listen. And while we’re running around and trying to multitask we drown out the silence in which faith whispers a message of hope; hope enables the love which casts out fear; fear that drives conflict, hatred and anger and brings a pervasive darkness that feeds upon itself. We read the news of continual human conflict, and it’s easy to feel despair. But it only takes one candle to be lit and the darkness loses its power to frighten. That’s our mission.

In the very first passage of John’s Gospel, we are reassured that the light has come; and the darkness will never overcome it. Quite a simple message – one we hear repeated at this time of incarnation, God becoming Man out of love for us. Unlike Santa, God doesn’t give us presents because we’ve been good – He gives us the present of Jesus even though we haven’t been. Because He loves us. And if we shut up and listen – even for five minutes – we’ll hear the song of the Angels telling us so.

When we sing the verse in the carol about ‘Man at war with Man’, we usually think that it applies to those nations and their leaders who use violence to achieve their dominance over others. But perhaps we ought to look at ourselves. If we believe Judgement begins with those of God (1 Peter 4:17), how about changing the verse slightly to reflect the state of the Church…

And ‘Christians’ at denominational war with other ‘Christians’ hear not
The love song that they sing
O hush the noise Ye sectarian legalists
And hear the Angels sing

The Song isn’t about reinforcing our own preferences and prejudices;
the Angels are singing about Jesus. Be quiet and listen.