This morning I read a lovely column by Fr James Martin, SJ in America Magazine, entitled “When the Spirit Moves You. It talked of an eight-day silent retreat, an evening reconciliation service, and the poem below. I had heard of Irene Zimmerman, O.S.F. before, had read a couple of her poems and decided to find this one, “Woman Taken in Adultery.” I found the article quite moving and the poem worth sharing here.
John 8:2-11
From the angry crunch of their sandaled feet
as they left the courtyard, Jesus knew,
without looking up from his writing on the ground,
that the Pharisees and scribes still carried their stones.
The woman stood where they’d shoved her,
her hair hanging loose over neck and face,
her hands still shielding her head
from the stones she awaited.
“Woman,” he asked, “has no one condemned you?”
The heap of woman shuddered, unfolded.
She viewed the courtyard — empty now —
with wild, glazed eyes and turned back to him.
“No one, Sir,” she said, unsurely.
Compassion flooded him like a wadi after rain.
He thought of his own mother — had she known such fear? —
and of the gentle man whom he had called Abba.
Only when Joseph lay dying had he confided
his secret anguish on seeing his betrothed
swelling up with seed not his own.
“Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus said.
“Go your way and sin no more.”
Black eyes looked out from an ashen face,
empty, uncomprehending.
Then life rushed back.
She stood before him like a blossoming tree.
“Go in peace and sin no more,”
Jesus called again as she left the courtyard.
He had bought her at a price, he knew.
The stony hearts of her judges
would soon hurl their hatred at him.
His own death was a mere stone’s throw away.
Incarnation, 84
Art: The Adulterous Woman, found here
Wow, what a powerful poem, Claire. Thank you very much for posting it!
Kathleen Costello Schatzberg aka GeorgiaBearwell
You’re very welcome. I also think it’s powerful, like most of Irene Zimmerman’s poems 🙂
Thanks so much for this post. The poem is so touching and the zinger at the end so real. There are always consequences. Also, thanks for the reference to Jim Martin’s article. I was particularly touched by the way he described Jesus’s compassion flooding him like “a wadi after rain.” There is a wonderful story about the dry/wet cycle of a wadi contained in an article from The Way entitled “What We Learn From Desolation” by Antonio Guillén (just Google it). The wadi story is called “Parable of the Pool” and is dispersed within the article in 3 segments (all in italics for easy retrieval!).
I read this yesterday when James Martin posted it, but I loved the art that you put with it. I think it made the reading more powerful than the first reading.
Thank you, Kathleen. I wish I knew the artist who did it…
I googled the article you mentioned, Sister Donna, and found it: http://www.theway.org.uk/Guillen.pdf. I’m looking forward to reading it. Many thanks for this.
I did like very much the column by James Martin and found it inspiring 🙂
I do hope you find the wadi story inspiring and perhaps worthy of a response from you in a future post. I always look forward to your posts and find them deeply prayerful. Thanks for all the time and attention you put into this blog.
A response in a future post is a very good idea! Thank you, and thank you for your kindness as well 🙂