Shema!

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Mark 12:29)

The word, ‘Shema’ means to hear. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 before the question of the most important commandment. The initial word of the phrase is ‘Shema’. The word ‘Hear, O Israel’ was a word of calling to start a sacrificial ritual. Changing it into the modern term, it can be a call to worship. Every male of Israel of the contemporary of Jesus had to recite this content every morning and evening.

The word they should hear everyday was ‘the Lord Our God, the Lord is one.’ The reason for hearing this word was that it gave them life. The things in this world are not unique. Any things, thoughts and activities are not completely new and unique in this world. It may be said that every individual in this world is so unique that there is not a single person who is identical with the other. But this difference among the people is not the most essential thing. The more important meaning of ‘God is one’ is that God alone is the creator while others are mere creatures. The creator being the source and the core of creation while creatures are his handiworks teaming across the globe, God has his unique existence.

To live by reciting every morning and evening that the Lord is a unique one clearly shows a meaningful blend of God’s creativity and man’s character as a created being. By doing in this manner, man lives. Some people think it in a reverse manner. They consider that emphasizing on man’s character as being created is something disparaging. But it is not so. It is not a humiliation but an obvious fact.

The being thrown into this world is human. Therefore, because of this status of being thrown, man is rather a precious being. There are not many sounds for us to hear. In its truest sense, we have only one sound to hear and that is non other than “The Lord our God, the Lord is one”. Let us strain our ears of our souls to this sound. Shema!