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