DELIBERATELY DIVERSE | Rev. Terry Pierce
Deliberately Diverse represents the thoughts of Taylor friends who never completely agree about anything but enjoy diverse discussions.
The prophet Micah lived some 700 years before Christ’s birth.
He was a “man of the soil” with deep concern for the rural people who lived near him. He predicted Jerusalem and its temple would become a “heap of ruins” because of the corruption of the court and religious officials and the practices that made the rich even richer and left the poor starving.
Micah said, “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?”
He wondered if offering thousands of rams and rivers of oil would be sufficient for salvation.
Answering his own question, he reminds the people of what the Lord says, “He 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?’” To do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.
This week as Taylor struggled with the ice storm and how to keep almost 50 people protected from the freezing cold, I have been reminded of how the world can be changed through the power of doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with the God of your understanding.
One day during the storm, I entered the parish hall. There were people delivering things, and some of our unsheltered neighbors waited for me to open the door.
A woman I did not know walked near me and quietly put a $100 bill in my hand. I think she was one of our neighbors who found herself doing justice and loving kindness with no expectations.
I asked her name but in the busy-ness around me, I forgot it before it was written. I hope she sees her reflection here, along with the many other people who have reached out to put cash to help our unsheltered neighbors in our hands.
Countless people reached out … Last Saturday morning, a person walked in and delivered sacks of breakfast sandwiches, the good kind with meat, egg and cheese. Today, someone called and asked if I could use nine cases of milk.
A neighbor of the church saw my post asking for help with laundry and washed loads of towels, blankets and sheets. Countless organizations supplied us with the resources to care for people’s animals and to feed us all, not with castoffs and leftovers, but with the “good stuff” as my nieces would say –– fresh boxes of Girl Scout cookies and red and green grapes.
A significant part of doing justice is giving the “good stuff,” the first fruits, the best clothing, the fluff-lined snow gloves.
And that’s what Taylor has done this week.
Pierce is the vicar of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Taylor and can be reached by email at [email protected].
