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| Skit Night at English Club |
I’m not sure how we had come around to talking about cheating spouses. The conversation had begun with a discussion about the terrible events that had happened in Paris. We had pondered the reasons why people could do such horrible things—things that seem awful and alien to many of our friends and neighbors here on Clove Island even if done in the name of faith. We had come around to the idea of revenge and had talked about some of the things it said in their book and what my book had to say. My friends explained that they believed revenge was the job of the state and not the individual. Countries could make war—not individuals. I challenged them with the fact that the group claiming responsibilities for the attacks claims the status of a nation state. This made them pause. But somehow the conversation about forgiveness continued on and it eventually came around to talking about husbands and wives being faithful. (As a side note: few husbands and wives are faithful here on the islands.) And suddenly it seemed clear to me that I should not tell the story I had been prepared to tell them, but a different one:
The religious leaders came with an angry crowd and brought a woman and threw her down at the teacher’s feet. “We caught her.” They said, “In the very act. She is an adulteress.” They held stones in their hands ready to stone here. “Teacher,” they said, “What should we do?” The teacher did not look at them but wrote something in the dirt. Then after a moment he said, “Let the person who doesn’t have any sin throw the first stone.” The crowd was silent. The teacher went back to writing in the dirt. Slowly, one by one, the men dropped their stones and started to leave. Soon, there was no one left except the teacher and the woman. The teacher looked at the woman and said, “Woman, who condemns you?” “No one” she replied. “Then neither do I condemn you,” he said. “Go and don’t sin anymore.” So the woman left.
Uhaju and Huomba sat in silence. It was as if the story had just slapped them in the face. They looked dazed, their mouths slightly open. It was clear— they had never heard anything like this story before. I began to ask them a question but could see that they were not ready to respond. So instead, I told the story a second time. Even in the retelling, I could see the amazement in their faces. Finally they seemed ready to answer some of my questions. Their answers were telling.
“Everybody sins.”
“The teacher is merciful.”
“The law says she should die. They still do that in some countries.”
I asked them, “What does the story teach us about God?” At first they didn’t know so I pressed them. “Does the teacher follow God’s way?” “Yes.” “So he is doing what God wants.” “So God is merciful,” one said, with a mixture of surprise and reluctance. I went on, “If this is story is true then it teaches us about how we should live our lives. So how should we live?” The two were silent. Then one said, “We don’t know.” “I think you do,” I said. The two of them looked sheepish. “We should forgive,” one of them finally said.
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| Thankful for the beauty around us |
We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving week. Our family has been very healthy lately, not something we take for granted here. The kids are liking local school more. We secured the big international tickets to go to Tom’s sister wedding (thanks to the generosity of others!). We keep hearing stories and experiencing first hand islanders being interested and truly seeking. We live in a relatively very safe place, something we are very thankful for in the midst of world events.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for Ma Imani, she is pregnant and thankfully has made it into the second trimester (after many miscarriages). But the doctors say she needs to start eating more and better foods (she is a picky, light-eater usually). Pray that she would have an appetite and eat well, and pray for protection over the rest of her pregnancy. We now have a couple friends who have miscarried recently on the islands, pray for them as they deal with the emotional aftermath of that experience. An island sister has been getting some backlash for actions that were perhaps too bold— pray for increasing wisdom for her and that even the backlash might lead to good opportunities. We have entered in exam time—all our English exams are oral and time-consuming. Pray for good exams and the energy to get through them all as the weather heats up.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE BACK HOME!
