Justice Mercy Humility

“There are times in our lives—scary, unsettling times—when we know that we need help or answers but we’re not sure what kind, or even what the problem or question is. We look and look, tearing apart our lives like we’re searching for car keys in our couch, and we come up empty-handed. Then when we’re doing something stupid, like staring at the dog’s mismatched paws, we stumble across what we needed to find. Or even better, it finds us. It wasn’t what we were looking or hoping for, which was usually advice, approval, an advantage, safety, or relief from pain.

I was raised to seek or achieve them, but like everyone, I realized at some point that they do not bring lasting peace, relief, or uplift. This does not seem fair, after a lifetime spent in their pursuit.
Where, then, do I turn in these increasingly frightening days?

Where do I look for answers when I’m afraid, or confused, or numb? To an elegant Japanese sage? A dream-dancing Sioux grandmother with a tinkling laugh? No. More often than not, the North Star that guides me through the darkness is the Old Testament prophet Micah. He must have looked like a complete stoner or a Game of Thrones extra, and smelled like a goat, yet nearly three thousand years ago, he spoke the words that often remind me of my path and purpose: “What doth God require of thee but to do justice and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

~ Anne Lamott, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy

~ "Micah was a prophet in Judaism who prophesied from approximately 737 to 696 BC in Judah and is the author of the Book of Micah. He prophesied the future destruction of Jerusalem and Samaria, the destruction and then future restoration of the Judean state, and he rebuked the people of Judah for dishonesty and idolatry. His prophecy that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem is cited in the Gospel of Matthew...

The Ghent Altarpiece is a very large and complex 15th-century Early Flemish polyptych altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, attributed to the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and considered a masterpiece of European art and one of the world's treasures. The upper panels contain lunettes showing prophets and Sibyls looking down on the annunciation. Zechariah and Micah look down on the fulfillment of their prophecies contained in the banderoles floating behind them. Micah's lunettes are an early instance of an illusionistic motif, wherein the sense of the boundary between the painting, frame and viewer's space becomes blurred. In this example, the prophet knowingly places his hand outwards on the lower border of the frame..."
~ Wikipedia