Back to School 
Pause
The halls at school are a study of opposites.
They are either filled with people walking, running, talking, bumping along — a sea of humanity with differing currents.
Or they are eerily empty and quiet.
Notice how your life reflects this same dichotomy of hustle and hush.
And notice where you encounter God in both.
Listen
He has told you, human one, what is good and what the LORD requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Think
Whenever I read Micah 6:8, three very simple guitar chords begin to play in my head. These words are like a refrain. I’m not much of a guitarist, so the simpler the tune, the better. Micah’s words are simple too: Do justice. Embrace faithful love (or love mercy). Walk humbly. Simple enough to remember, but not always simple to do. Justice, love, and humility are hard!
And that’s why we need the most important qualifier alongside each statement: Do justice with your God. Embrace love with your God. Walk humbly with your God. What we cannot do on our own, we can do with God.
Write the words of Micah 6:8 somewhere visible — the cover of your notebook, a post-it in your locker, the backdrop on your phone — as a reminder of what is good and who is with you. Let it be the refrain that plays in your heart in all of your encounters at school on this day.
Lauren Holder
Pray
God, you are with me always. Help me to notice your presence in all that is simple and in all that is hard, remembering what is good. Amen.
Go
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
Dan Schutte in “Here I am Lord” (1995)
