As we enter into a second week of reading about Dorothy in my PT610 | Spiritual Formation and Social Change course at Methodist Theological School of Ohio, I can’t seem to get this passage out of my spirit. It continues to resonate loudly inside me, like a fire that is shut up in my bones. Dorothy embodied this scripture, she lived this scripture, she centered her life’s work on this scripture simply through her actions. Dorothy reflected on the words of Rabbi Abraham Heschel during an address he made at the Liturgical Conference in Milwaukee “what we need, what the world needs, is prayer.” She then found Thomas Merton’s last book Contemplative Prayer which has a forward written by Douglas Steere, a Quaker. Blake wrote “We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love. To escape these beams, to protect ourselves from these beams, even devout men hasten to devise protective clothing. We do not want to be irradiated by love.” (Ellsber, 181). Dorothy talked about how she rode home on a bus and sat across from a downcast, ragged man, the hopelessness of the destitute and she suddenly began to weep. She had been struck by one of the beams of love. She had recognized something inside of herself that needed changed – a heart of stone that needed to be softened.

I keep thinking about the transformational experiences in the lives of individuals – John Wesley when his heart was strangely warmed – Dorothy Day on the bus ride – the list could go on and on. Dorothy did not start with Micah 6:8, she had a transformational experience which brought her to living a Micah 6:8 life. I wonder how often we quickly forget about our own personal transformational experiences in life. My prayer is that I always remember that moment of transformation which brought me to a Micah 6:8 life.