1. How many of the 10 commandments can you name? Give it a try. Do you think everyone would come up with "don't kill" as being part of the 10 if they were asked on the street?
2. What is the "positive" way of stating the 6th Commandment?
3. Describe the connection between the hand and the heart from a biblical perspective. Why does Jesus insist that murder can "happen" in the heart even if it never happens with the hands?
4. Reflect on some of your tougher relationships. When you get frustrated, what goes on in your mind and heart as you think about a difficult person? Why is it so imperative that you carefully guard your heart from becoming contemptuous toward that person?
5. Reflect on some aspects of society that are superficially "civilized," but are still capable of and complicit in taking human lives. Is it difficult to recognize our complicity in societal structures of violence? What is worse: killing "in the name of God" or killing "in the name of the law"?
6. Given that you probably can't do anything immediately that will radically change society as a whole, what can you commit yourself to on a smaller scale to bring life-giving love to your neighbors and to renounce death-dealing hatred?
7. What is God saying to your spirit? What are you going to do about it? Who is going to help you?
