Requirements

We probably do not give it much thought but our lives are shaped by requirements. Some are common to all of us but others to particular circumstances.

The fourth of July this year of 2010 fell on a Sunday. Our pastor chose Micah 6: 6-8 as the scripture for his sermon. Michah was the sixth minor prophet. He was a man of Judah and prophesied to both the north and southern kingdoms. He is noted for his definition of true religion ( 6-8) and for his prophesy of Christ's birthplace ( 5:2 ). He also spoke of the eventual triumph of divine grace. I am not a Biblical scholar but am inspired by the wisdom found within it's pages.

This statement of what God requires of us came to me in the wee hours of this day. I had been reading a book on American History. This book contains a series of events in our country which helped shape us as a people. The event that set my mind off in a particular direction was telling about the Kefauver Hearings. Estes Kefauver was a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He led an investigation into crime in interstate commerce. This was in 1950 and 1951.

At that time my husband and I were spending the summer in Nashville, Tenn. He was in graduate school at Peabody College and I was having a leisurely summer away from my classroom. Television was in its infancy and the people of Tennessee were naturally interested in watching their senator in action. I had never before seen television and our landlord invited us to watch the hearings on her television. It was mesmerizing.

Senate hearings is not my focus today however. I was remembering what I was required to do that summer. Really, not much but be a wife, prepare breakfast, lunch and supper. My husband was required to study every spare moment he was not in class . He really worked hard that summer. On one night a week he set his studies aside and the two of us had a date. We usually went to a movie as night clubs were not our thing and our budget dictated frugality.

Something else was looming in the background that summer, the Korean War. My husband had already performed his duty for his country in World War II. He spent his time in the European Theater of War, although not in the front lines. He now belonged to the R.O.T.C. and since our country was at war he was required to register with the local draft board . This he did in our home town. He was obligated to inform that body if he changed his residence. He received some information which led him to not register in Tennessee. He learned Tennessee got their quota of officers from among the students temporarily in that state. He and some of his ROTC friends were not eager to fulfill Tennessee's quota. So, they ignored this requirement. One of their buddies who did not, was sent to Korea and lost his life there.

I am required to know the laws and regulations of the county of my residence. In order to comply, I subscribe to the county newspaper. Since it is mostly local activities that are included in this paper it is semi helpful. In this day and time, I can get some of this information online.
However, I am still of the generation which are paper bound. I like to get it in writing, or as the present generation would say a "hard copy".

One of the nice things about being a "retiree" is that the requirements have gone away for many routine things. Some people do not adjust well to this freedom while others thrive on it. I think I am of the latter group. It is refreshing to be able to regulate your own life. This does not however, erase all requirements . As Micah has said in Chapter 6, verse 8 : "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."