A Christmas Wish

It’s nearly Christmas and our consumer-driven culture is once again pressuring everyone to check their shopping list, not once but twice, this holiday season. The implication inherent in this annual exercise is that, unless you are longing to give or receive the latest gadget, fashion, or toy, your wish list is somehow incomplete. So we will acquire more stuff and worry about how to pay for all of it next year.

Several thousand years ago, a minor prophet named Micah delivered a very different wish when he wrote, “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?”

Imagine if leaders, and each of us, made this simple message our 2012 Christmas wish? What would happen in our workplaces if justice, kindness, and humility were practiced regularly? How might our families and communities be transformed if these principles and characteristics permeated our behavior with each other?

In a world where violence, fear, economic uncertainty, famine, and so much more seems destined to control our futures, these words offer hope and a prescription for redemption. Acts of justice, kindness, and humility are proof that faith is alive; that, in spite of evil, humankind can live differently when God is allowed to influence us.

Micah’s prophetic message is needed now more than ever. I wonder how many of us will listen and act?