He has told you, O man, 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?
–Micah 6:8 (English Standard Version)
Human beings spin a near infinite variety of theologies, philosophies and moralities. To what end? Micah here has it boiled down to 32 words. I bet you could find a similar distillation in most religious and moral traditions. And as individuals, we may develop our own understandings of what is at the core of a good life.
Questions:
1. What do you think of Micah’s formulation? Does it capture the essence of morality?
2. What if anything is missing?
3. The walking “humbly with your God” is unlikely to appeal to atheists. Atheists: If we take God out of it, (maybe “walk humbly with your fellow human”?) does it work for you?
4. Everyone: Is there a distillation from your tradition of your own making that you find captures the essence of how we should live?