Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The gavel hit the dais like a hammer striking stone – every whack a clap of thunder that echoed through the court room. The accused stood rigid – a young girl of seventeen with straight black hair and golden eyes. Her lips were pressed into the thinnest line and she was still as a statue, as she faced the podium.
Her gaze was almost as unyielding as she was. It didn’t wander to the right or left, where a stage of witnesses gathered to oversee her trial. Instead it was cinched to the man in front – a judge beset in snow white garbs. He loomed above her, and although his face was welcoming and kind, the girl had nothing but bitterness in her soul.
“Where is my accuser?” she asked boldly.
“I am he,” the judge replied.
A tremor of anxiety rattled her bones because the girl didn’t expect to be examined by her king. But whatever hesitation she felt, she barely showed it, because she was confident of her innocence.
She allowed the man to continue.
“Isabell, you stand accused of the following crimes; cheating the poor with unbalanced measures, living in excess while those around you starve, disloyalty to your kingdom and deceit. You have been found guilty on all accounts and I insist you tell me what I have done to warrant such rebellion?”
“My lord,” Isabell complained. “How do you expect me to follow such rules when they are truly impossible to keep? I am crushed by the burden of your scrupulous laws and even if I offer you a thousand times the payment, it will never be enough. Surely you don’t expect me to live under such oppression?”
“You claim my decrees are unfair and that forgiveness is unattainable,” the king stated – his voice rumbling like cannon fire. “But I have only ever asked you to do three things; act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. I’ve given you every opportunity to obey but instead you do the opposite. How can I tolerate your wickedness when you refuse to follow these rules? How am I supposed to bear your violence and greed any longer? What am I to do with you when you’ve already pledged yourself to the enemy?”
Isabell flinched because she realized everything he said was the truth.
“There will be a punishment for your transgressions,” the king continued. “I declare you will reap what you sow. Never again will you keep riches, live in comfort, or eat in plenty. You have vowed to serve our adversaries so I will give you over to them. They will make you toil for even your most basic needs; and then, and only then, you will understand that my demands are just and my judgement is final.” He slapped the table with the end of his mallet and the sharp snap pierced Isabell’s heart.
The judge disembarked and the jury disbanded, leaving Isabell alone with her thoughts. As she stood in the silence of the vacant hall, she couldn’t help but contemplate the kings’ accusations. Act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. The words rolled through her head like an ocean swell, setting her emotions on edge.
Could it really be that simple? Could those three modest phrases actually be redemptive?
Isabell spent her whole life under the suffocating weight of her choices. Yet when she tried to get forgiveness, she found the path to freedom even more burdensome – plagued by obscure ceremonies and stringent routines. That’s why when she found she couldn’t keep the laws, and struggled even more to repent, she gave up completely – thus landing herself in this mess.
But what if what her king said was true? What if all she had to do was acknowledge right from wrong, give mercy to those who needed it, and depend on her Lord rather than her own ingenuity. She could stop existing in the shadow of ritualistic oppression and have an actual relationship that was based on justice, love, and devotion.
Somehow it all made sense and Isabell vowed she would change. She knew she’d still have to face the consequences of her actions but from that day forward she would live differently – seeking God with all her heart.
