John 8:1-11: Throwing Stones – Part IV
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Joyce Storey with her badge from Chefoo, a Japanese Concentration Camp
What tax or tithe do we surrender when we give in to the temptation to throw stones? And what do we gain? How are we transformed when we render our suffering for, with and in Christ?
How do we forgive the unforgivable?
Swarms of people came to Jesus. He sat down and taught them.
How do we guard against a smug or prideful attitude?
The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone.
How do we open ourselves to possibility rather than close ourselves off from the potential for hope?
They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.”
How do we turn the horrible into the beautiful?
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone.
When we find ourselves in the impossible, we look for the pivot point of change.
Does no one condemn you? Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.
Throwing stones is a dangerous temptation. Throwing stones ends the possibility for transformation. But in the throwing of stones there is always the shimmering potential of hope – no matter how small. Today we read about the women and children of a Girl Guides troop that survived years of life in a Japanese concentration camp. Explore their story at the sites below and consider what was gained by these women as they lived through the experience of thrown stones, and we reflect on the surprising result of optimism in the face of violence.
For more on the story of Girl Guides in the Chefoo concentration camp, click on the image or visit: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/birmingham-woman-tells-of-childhood-in-japanese-158102
When listening to the podcast, visit this site and move through part one to arrive at part two: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/559/captains-log?act=1
For the transcript of the THIS AMERICAN LIFE episode airing this story, use this link:, This American Life – Cookies and Monsters
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