Discussion Questions, Storytelling, Sharing

  • Identity an injustice that troubles you. What emotion first made you aware of it? Then talk about one action you can take to combat it.
  • Do you think that all people are born with a yearning for justice or does it have to be taught? Think back to your childhood and recall your most vivid experience of justice or injustice. Share your story.
  • What criteria do you use in choosing which organizations or causes you will give money?

Imagery Exercise

The intention of this exercise, "Making a Stand," is to discover how justice grows from our daily actions.

Breathe out three times. Imagine yourself going about your daily activities in a very rhythmic manner . . . getting up at the same time . . . eating regularly . . . having an established balance between times or work and time of recreation . . . finding a pace that feels right to you personally . . . not allowing anyone or anything to interfere with your rhythm. Know that you are doing all that you want and need to do when you are keeping to this rhythmic lifestyle. Open your eyes.

Close your eyes. Breathe out one time. See yourself standing in one place. You are standing there even when you have urges to go off and do something else. You are standing there when someone comes along and tries to push you off your place. Sense how you can resist any distractions and any forces or shocks that are coming at you. Know that by standing firm, you are being free. Then open your eyes.

Journal Exercises

  • According to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., life's most persistent question is, "What are you doing for others?" Search your soul and then write an honest answer in your journal.
  • Think about the various banners you have carried in your lifetime. Draw a page of them — the slogans you've worn on buttons and t-shirts, the signs you've carried, the bumper stickers on your car. What kinds of causes do you tend to support? Which have you abandoned? Which do you still support enthusiastically? How do you account for any shifts in your allegiances? On the opposite page from your slogans, write a reflection on what they say about you.