Alcatraz
Source: Wikimedia
Lot had been in prison for 2 years now. He knew what he did was wrong, but he could not stand the fact that he would spend the rest of his life locked up. He had to do something about it. One day, he asked to see a judge to plead for forgiveness.
"Please, I'll do anything. I just want to get out of here. Tell me what I can do, so I don't have to die here!"
"Alright fine. This is your only chance. If you do not complete your task, then you will have to accept your fate and spend the rest of your life in prison," the judge explained.
"I'll do it! Whatever it is, I'll do it."
"Do you see that tree out there? Outside of the prison gates?" the judge questioned Lot.
"Yes sir, I see it. What about it?" Lot asked.
"I want you to water that tree. Do that for me, and I will forgive you of your crime."
"That's it?! Water that tree, and I'm a free man?" Lot couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That's what I said. Now go!"
Lot thought this was a ridiculously easy request, but knew there had to be some catch. The next morning, he filled a bucket and made his way to the tree with an officer escorting him out of the prison gates. As he approached the tree, he noticed it was surrounded by a very poor neighborhood. As he got closer, he came across a little boy lying on the ground who looked as though he hadn't eaten in weeks.
"Sir, please may I have some water?" the little boy asked.
Without a thought, Lot answered, "Of course you can. Here you go," and before Lot knew it, the little boy had gulped down the entire bucket of water.
"Oh no, now what am I going to do? I have no more water to water the tree. I won't be able to fulfill my task. I'll be stuck in prison forever."
The police escort demanded they return to the prison at once since they were out of water. As they approached the prison, Lot was hesitant to hear the judge's reaction to his inability to perform such a simple task, but to his surprise, the judge had a very different response to his willingness to share his water with the little boy.
"Because of your selflessness, you are forgiven. You may go. You are a free man!"
Author's Note: The story I used for this week was Lot and the Tree of the Cross . It is a story about a man who is told by God that if he water's the tree at the head of Adam's grave, he will be forgiven of his sins. He attempts three times, but is tricked by the Devil disguised as a fake pilgrims to allow him to drink the water. Because of his willingness to help the pilgrims, Lot is forgiven of his sins. I used the same character name and the same theme, but I used a prison setting to relate to the bondage of sin.
Marissa,
ReplyDeleteI was really intrigued by your Storytelling assignment. I had not known of Christian legends before reading this. I'm not sure how I feel about them. They're fun stories, but there is no truth to it. That could cause some confusion in distinguishing the real stories with the legends. Any rate, you did a very good job of retelling the story!
Interesting! Since I’m not too familiar with the Bible, I didn’t know Lot’s story and was surprised at the turn of events when he didn’t complete the task. I liked how you put the story in a realistic modern setting, changing God to the judge (which is clever, I have to say, as the Abrahamic God is supposed to be the ultimate judge). Anyways, your story was really well written!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I have heard of Lot but I don't think I am familiar with his story. I definitely like the symbolism you used, sin as bondage, but how you used the always classic version of punishment, prison. While everyone may not be familiar with the story of Lot, you made sure your reader could relate to your story because of their understanding of the justice system (i.e., jail). Great work! Keep it up!!
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