Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHRIST WRITES IN THE SAND, by LUCY CULRIGHT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHRIST WRITES IN THE SAND, by                    
First Line: Crafty words and questions at jesus christ were flung
Last Line: In flaming letters of forgiveness in our heart.
Subject(s): Jesus Christ - Legends; Mercy; Sin


Crafty words and questions at Jesus Christ were flung,
Cruel, and only half hiding the fury of those Pharisees,
As they sought to entangle Him, Who, standing there among
That throng of men, did but use a truth that leapt and stung
The very fibres of their being, and robbed them of their ease.

A stir! the Pharisees draw their holy robes aside,
As thrusting forward into their midst, they drag a woman of sin,
And now -- yes, now -- what can He say to make her justified,
While her sin and degredation are being loudly cried,
And eager hands reach out for stones, her punishment to begin?

But He, heeding not their vile mouthings and cruelty of word,
Stoops down, and tracing with His right hand
Some unknown letters, -- as though He had not heard --
Until a silence fell and a moment passed e'er one had stirred,
And as He rose up, a message lay written in the sand.

"Let him cast the first stone who is without sin,"
He said, and knelt down and began again to write.
And they who had with pride and boasting entered in,
Now slunk out one by one -- leaving only the thin
Sound of the woman's sobs, filled with shame and fright.

His writing ended, He turned to her saying, "Woman, where
Are thine accusers now?" and with new wonder she
Answered, "Master, none," sensing in the midst of her despair
The forgiving heart of Him; she heard Him then declare,
"Go thou and sin no more, for neither do I condemn thee."

What wrote Jesus in the sand so long ago?
Not trivial nor idle words with no meaning to impart;
But though no man ever read them, this we know,
He lived that day a message that should grow
In flaming letters of forgiveness in our heart.





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