17 November

Today's the day when in 2003 Arnold Shwarzenegger was inaugurated as Governor of California. His career had already taken him from body-builder to film star; his big break came in ‘Conan The Barbarian’ in 1982 but he remains best known for his role as ‘The Terminator’ in James Cameron’s 1984 android thriller. His move into politics began with a determination to promote physical fitness for young people and more recently the ‘Governator’, as he has become known to many, has endorsed a radical commitment to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Schwarzenegger is not the first person to allow his celebrity status to help him step up to a position where he can make a difference in society. But making a difference is not just the role of celebrities or politicians. Through the prophet Micah God issues a challenge to all of us to live in such a way that the world around us will be blessed. This is how he puts it:

He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.