Hope Was Born!

She is guilty! The court rang out. Although it is not he judge who is saying this or even the jury. It is the spectators in the court. Guilty as sin!

There were folks who had their rocks in hand as she lay on the ground. She had been stripped of her clothes. Her nakedness was not about her physical being. It was her soul that was naked before all. She had no standing. She had been abused and used in every way. Any notion of self love had left her long ago.

There was a part of her that wondered why in the world she had been dragged into the public arena. As she looked around the crowd, she knew many of them. She could tell stories about many of them. It seems so much easier to proclaim the sin of others than to confront your own shame.

Then he appeared. He looked at her in a way that others did not. He did not look at her very long before turning his eyes to the ground. But that glance somehow comforted her in the midst of the angry crowd. Who was he? Why was he not like the others? He was supposed to be a religious man. But he was different.

The next sound was rocks falling to the ground. She had not heard what he said. But it disarmed them all in an instant. Although their eyes were still filled with hatred, they were turning around to leave. The rocks that were so lethal were now harmless. She looked up only to find her alone with this man.

He looked into her eyes again. That look was filled with an understanding that told her she was not guilty anymore. His face was gentle. It invited her to be safe in a way that she had long forgotten.

"Where are those who would condemn you?" The answer was obvious.

"Go and sin no more."

She had never heard those words before. All her life she had been condemned. All of her life she had known no hope. Yet she heard these words, her heart was changed. Her mind was changed. Her understanding of life and its possibilities were changed in an instant.

She gathered her clothes and walked away. But she walked away a different person. She did not understand what had happened. But she did understand that she would not live as she had. When she turned to look at the man, he was gone. So was her guilt and shame.

Hope was born.