Devotional By Rev. Mariah Newell
Scripture: 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 with your God.
Thoughts for the Day: This year at CYF Conference, high school church camp, in Gonzales, Texas our youth explored this passage for a week. Andy Mangum, our Regional Minister, was the Keynoter for the week and there was one keynote which he delivered that was resoundingly the favorite of the youth. For the keynote discussing Justice, Andy asked the youth to develop a question within their small group of an injustice they see in the world and how our church is responding to it or what our denomination’s position is on the issue. Some of you may know but some may not that high school church camp in our denomination is planned and led entirely by youth leaders. Our own Julianna Stevens is the head of our youth leaders and helped plan this event as well. So, I believe this keynote was particularly powerful because Andy truly believes the youth have something to say that the Region should hear. He took the time to listen to the causes the youth of our church are passionate about rectifying. The keynote ran over the time and the youth still wanted more. Andy was not telling, declaring, or attempting to cover the truth of the situation. He modeled justice to the youth. He listened. He heard their stories about school shootings, sexual violence, mental health, politics and more. He never tried to justify what had been done. He listened and hurt with them. Listening was a form of justice I think I have ignored. Seeing the empowerment that hour and a half gave our youth, I won’t be likely to forget my lesson on justice anytime soon!
Prayer: God, you take the time to listen to us consistently. Any prayer we pray is heard by you regardless of what we are praying for. You listen to all without any judgement, preconceived notion, or prejudice. I pray God that you would help train us to begin our journey for justice with listening. Open our hearts to the stories around us so that we may better love one another and build your Kingdom here on Earth. Amen.
