…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  (Micah 4:3)

Today’s words come from Dr. Walter Brueggeman (From The collected Sermons of Walter Brueggemann 2011) who says this about the Prophet Micah’s words:

“The image is of people willingly dismantling their weapons, not only dismantling but transforming them into useful tools of agricultural productivity.  The abandonment of weapons is not forced, but is done willingly.  And if done willingly, the poem surely suggests that in times to come there will be enough of trust, effective communication, and solidarity that old enemies can be a new community together.

Thus the key mark of God’s future is disarmament, the transformation of the economy from a war footing to an economy of food production.  Such disarmament means, every time, the capacity to yield one’s fear and aggressiveness and ambition and anxiety to a larger assurance, a guarantee that we need not position ourselves for hostility because our hostility is contained in the larger intention of God for peace, justice, and well-being.”

For today, think on the next words from the Prophet Micah.  They are not as familiar, but they describe a world for which we must pray:

…they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid… (Micah 4:4)