"My name is Dinah. Mostly, I find myself on the sidelines of our family, helping my moms with household chores while my brothers spend their days in the fields, working and playing with the neighbor boys. It's hard not to be jealous of their social life and their freedom to roam.
"That's why, at my mothers' urging, I went out one day to spend time with some girls my own age. It was so liberating to leave behind the stew and the wash bucket and chatter with friends about their little family dramas. I felt as if I had a new lease on life.
"That is, until Shechem started making eyes at me. This is hard to talk about; it all happened so fast. Before I knew it, he'd lured me into a dark place, and the moment I'd heard about was over. I did the best to hold my ground, but he just didn't listen. When I ran home, tears streaming from my face, my mothers asked what was wrong, and I told them everything.
"I'm learning that sometimes, telling the truth makes matters worse. Rather than consoling me, talking to me about what I wanted, my brothers decided to take matters into their own hands. 'Shechem's people are not our people,' they said, and they devised a cunning scheme—wonder where they got that trait!—to get revenge.
"When I heard of their plans, I tried to tell them that one man's crime didn't require the blood of a whole people, a people we'd lived with so peacefully for so long. But they'd hear nothing of it. Never before had it been so clear to me that I was nothing but a prized possession; never before had it been so clear to me that they cared more for 'honor' than for their sister. Just a girl I am. I wonder if I'll ever be anything more."
- Where do you see the "spiral of violence" at work in your life, in our community, and in our world?
- Have you ever heard a voice that had been left out of the story everyone was telling? What was it like to hear that story?
- What other details did you notice in today's reading?
Prayer: We're not sure how to read such a tragic story, O God. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the strains of tragedy in our world. In response, give us courage to pursue the non-violent justice of Jesus. Amen.
Breath Prayer: You have // brought trouble.
