Lot’s Wife
Compassionate. Accepting. Loving.
LOT’S WIFE, 2000-1900 BCE (presumably), Sodom and Gomorrah, present day Israel
Lot’s wife is characterized as a disobedient woman who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back to see the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In order to punish the people of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness (loving freely), God sent fire to destroy their city. Lot and his family were spared and able to leave the city but told not to look back. Lot's wife looked back with tears in her eyes. For this she was punished and turned into a pillar of salt. Her story is seen as an example of what happens to those who choose to disobey God, when women disobey their husbands and what happens to those who choose a worldly life over salvation.
But what if Lot's wife was trying to teach us something else?
Why did she look back? Because her community was being destroyed, because the people she loved, who loved openly, were dying. Because the values she was raised with were being eroded. Because she had compassion, acceptance, and mercy for those who lived differently than her. In this piece, Lot’s wife emerges from a pillar of salt with her heart open, emanating a rainbow of love and light. The pillar of salt sits upon a lotus, a symbol of compassion and mercy that is associated with the Goddess Guanyin.
Imagine where we might be today in our understanding and acceptance of the diverse expressions of gender and love if we had heard Lot’s wife story? We may have learned to look upon that which you don't understand with tolerance, compassion and mercy.
Artwork by Moonjube
