Reflection


Some Questions

  • In not more than 100 words summarise the message of Micah as you might tell it to someone unfamiliar with the Old Testament (and without any reference to it) as if it were just something happening today. 
  • Take a fresh look at the backdrop you started with. How much has reading (and praying with) Micah clarified your thinking and affected your feelings? How different now does the backcloth now look? How might this affect what you do in your own situation?
  • Helen Graham describes peace under Solomon as ‘structural violence’.  i.e. ‘Any avoidable impediment to self-realisation’. Starting from there, re-read 3: 1–3. What is the difference between ‘peace’ (à la Solomon) and ‘peace’ (in the sense of shalom) for Micah's peasantry? 
  • Imagine a relationship (marriage, business partnership, or any group in society) where the net benefits of the relationship are structurally, forcefully and unevenly distributed or shared. How do you achieve ‘peace’ in that situation?v


Some Activities

  • Envisage a situation similar to that in 2: 1-5. Imagine Micah at the centre of it. What would you expect him to say or do? Try telling the story in a letter to a friend (but don’t necessarily send it).
  • Search newspapers (local as well as national), radio and TV news bulletins, dramas, soaps and documentaries for individuals and groups who would readily identify with the Voiceless. Can you spot a Micah in their situation or identify a situation where you could be a Micah.
  • Work through a personal experience of loss or exile. (4: 6-13).
© Alec Gilmore 2014