Neither Do I Condemn You

Speaking Of Him

  Hopkins said that the power of Him

Was a billion times more energized 

Than a Windhover’s soaring swim

Executed through dappled skies.

If the world speaks less of Him

Let me speak more spacious text

Of how he sees me out on that limb,

Extends his hand, and I wait for what happens next.

Artwork by Eva Timothy

What happened next? He sees the woman judged and condemned and sends her accusers away. 

John 8:10 

“When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

To this Joseph Smith translates this added phrase:

"And the woman glorified God from that hour, and believed on his name."

That is what happened next. She believed that he was not condemning her and that her faith in him would lift her up. He did not condone her sins but He did not leave her in her sins. Now she had a way forward and a way up. I believe she glorified him by testifying of his power and then moving toward a life of faith. Her story moves me and fills me with awe and a sense of calm.

  If you are interested in reading Gerald Manley Hopkin's "The Windhover" click here.

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