Saturday 6 April 2019

Drawing a line

John 8:6
They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.


I like to think of Jesus
doodling on the ground
while folk who thought they were important
awaited his pronouncement
on the fate of the woman.
caught in adultery
I like to think that Jesus
did not draw a straight line
but a squiggly circle.
A circle that made room
for more and more inclusion.
A circle that meandered
accommodating others.
A circle full of loopholes
that enabled even the most sceptical
and the least likely 
to find a way in.
And I pray that my doodling
will always be as inclusive.
I pray that, when I draw a line
I don’t discover Jesus on the other side of it.*
I pray that any pronouncement I make
will be filled with compassion
and love
and acceptance
as Jesus was 
and is.
I pray that, when the time comes
I will be engaged
in doodling with Jesus.

* Finding Jesus on the other side of any line we draw inspired by Kathryn Johnston’s preaching at NextChurch, Baltimore Feb 2018

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