Ado‘s husband was a good and righteous man. She was obedient, not only out of duty, but
respect, as well. She kept his house and
bore him children. They were daughters,
not sons, but had brought worthy husbands into the family. They enjoyed a rewarding life and a
comfortable status in the community.
Now, as she walked through the desert by the Dead Sea with
all the valuables she could carry, she feared the loss of that happiness. Yesterday, Lot, sometimes given to religious
excess had invited two strangers into their home. Ado had made them comfortable and provided
both food and drink. Curiously, Lot had been deferential to the pair and went
so far as to prostrate himself before their feet.
Trouble started in the night when a pack of drunken young
men staggered up to the front of the house and begin to taunt the strangers. Their bawdy shouts demanded that the
strangers come out and provide the kind of pleasure that men give to each
other.
The strangers were very offended and agitated by the ruckus
and went to the front of the house. A
flash of light filled the street. The
brightness was so intense that the crowd stumbled around unable to see.
Ado sensed something frightening about the strangers. They had eyes as deep as the infinite sky. The strangers bade Lot join them in a sitting
room. Ado could not make out the words
but occasionally heard Lot’s raised and pleading voice.
Lot finally emerged with the strangers and told Ado to
gather up their coin, best fabric and other valuables as they were fleeing
Sodom for the nearby town of Bela.
“Fleeing?” “Why would we leave,
husband?” Ado cried. She wailed and she
screamed, but Lot was steadfast in his demand saying only that there was a
prophecy of doom. She went upstairs to
pack, while Lot went to find their daughters.
When Lot returned, he was followed his tearful daughters,
but not their husbands. Ado protested
that it was wrong for Lot to tear apart the households of their daughters. Lot listened only to the strangers. Ado was confused and frustrated, but bent to
gather up the family wealth.
The burden was heavy and the ground was already hot when she
looked up ahead to see Lot entering the gates to Bela. The strangers remained outside the town and
both turned back toward Sodom raising their arms heavenward and started to
pray. They were speaking in a tongue
unfamiliar to Ado and looked to her as foreign as any person could possibly be. One of them barked at her, “Don’t look back!”
Then she saw the reflected lights of explosions illuminate
the city-walls of Bela. The lights were
followed immediately by rolling concussions that caused dust to fly from the
earth. She was afraid. She was worried about her family and friends
left behind. She turned to face
Sodom. She was bombarded with a vision
of fire raining from the sky, explosions in the city, death and
destruction. The valuables fell from her
arms which she raised in a protective
stance. She was horrified, but could not
turn away. Her heart was filled with the
pain and misery of the Sodomites she loved.
She thought of the shopkeepers, the children and the women with whom she
would gossip beside the well and she started to cry. Tears streamed down her face and she could
taste their salty outrage. The salty
grief sank deeper and deeper into her soul until, in the end, it totally
consumed her.
Mike Mallory
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