The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” —John 8:3-5
I’m caught in this circle, unable to move, bound to the earth where dull stones lie. A round of judges with stony eyes makes me their test. They see no love. I summon my voice to raise the cry of the silent ground – but no words come; I’m caught in the circle of rage and fear. There is no way out. Then he makes a way, drawing in dust, inscribing my hope upon the earth’s unspeaking face. The circle reverses, turns inside out. Now I’m the free one, they’re in the trap – bound to the earth until they can read what he wrote: Himself at one with our dust.
Lory Widmer Hess lives with her family in Switzerland, where she works in a community centered around the care of adults with developmental disabilities. Her writing has been published in Parabola, Kosmos Quarterly, Braided Way, Ruminate: The Waking, and other print and online publications. She blogs at enterenchanted.com.