Sunday 28th February

New beginnings (John 7:53-8:11)

(note – we do not know what Jesus wrote in the dust of course. But I wonder…)

I heard the shouting first.

Angry voices drawing nearer,

Followed swiftly

By the sight

Of faces twisted in disgust,

Eyes cold with hatred,

Hands seizing me,

Clawing as I scrambled futilely

To snatch for clothes

And dignity.

The sun was hot

But my cheeks

Burned instead

With humiliation

As they threw me

At the foot

Of the rabbi.

I flinched

Waiting for the stones

Our laws said

They were entitled to throw.

My eyes cast down

In fear and shame,

I felt rather than saw

This righteous man

Stoop to my level

And write in the dust.

‘You are loved’.

And somehow these

Words in the sand

Reached deep

Within my wounded soul

And gave me hope

Even before his next words

Sealed my new start.

By Jeannie Kendall