The Stoning of Mary

Monday, 27 October, 2008
An Islamist rebel administration in Somalia has had a 13-year-old girl, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, stoned to death for adultery after the child's father reported that she was raped by three men.
The Guardian, Sunday 2 November 2008

This is a horrendous crime, and this blog will not do it justice, but after finding it my research, I had to include it. If for no other reason, to make people aware that it still goes on, as well as to exemplify the following observation.

Something like this could have happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was a teenage girl, living in a strict religious society. She was poor, she was unmarried, and she was pregnant. By law, she could have been stoned, but Joseph cared enough for her to hide her away privately, as he was no longer obligated to marry her. It was the visit from the angel that told him what was really going on. (Matthew 1:19-20) Basically, he was told not to condemn her, because God had a plan.

Here in the western world, it may not be so strict as to the actual stoning, as in the case above, but there are still religious zealots that condemn because they think they have the right to. There are many, in the name of religion, that would rather condemn an unmarried pregnant woman than offer her a word of encouragement. Granted, none of them are 'with child' with the Savior, but that does not mean that the life within is any less precious.

Custom, tradition, the law--all these called for the condemnation and murder of Mary--in the name of religion. But what did God say about her? The angel said 'You are highly favored, the Lord is with you, you are blessed among women....Do not fear, for you have found favor with God.' (Luke 1:28,30)

   

So, the very person the people would have stoned for shame and disgrace was highly favored and chosen of God. How many religious people, bent on keeping up with custom and tradition, tear down the very people whom God has chosen for a special work?

Not long after my older daughter turned 18, I had to take her to the emergency room for a panic attack. She could not breathe, her heart was racing, and her skin was clammy. It was not her first, but the worst by far. I had watched her for a year or more, date guy after guy,  only to have them fail after a very short time. But, this guy she had dated for a good while, and now he'd broken up with her. It was her or drugs, and the drugs won.

So, to her, she was being abandoned-again. I had divorced my girl's dad when she was 5 1/2, and even though he lived very close, he was very much an absent parent. The man in my life at the time showed us nothing but violence. She had already been struggling with depression, and this was pushing her over the edge.

She would not date anyone that she had gone to high school with-she knew all the skeletons in their closets. So, standing there in the emergency room that day was the last straw for me. She desperately needed a divine intervention, so I prayed for God to 'send her someone here, but not from here.'

Within 3 weeks, God had sent a young man from 3 states away, in town visiting a brother that he had not seen in several years. My prayer was answered-the two were inseparable. Then in the spring of 2008, she became pregnant. I had several people, spouting their religion, ask if I was upset with her. My answer? 'I prayed it on her; how can I be upset with her?'

That was the best thing that could have ever happened to her. Emotionally, she was sinking fast into the dark world of depression. My grandson was born in December 2008. God used that baby to save her life. There are those that would not agree with me--those same people would have also stoned Mary.

Whether it's a real stone, or negative words out of the mouth, they are meant to kill. But God is about life. That unmarried girl might not look right in the eyes of the religious folk, but to God, she is carrying precious seed. She won't be carrying the Savior as Mary was, but it might be the very thing God uses to settle her so that she can turn to Him.

Let him among you without sin cast the first stone.