As dawn was breaking, Lot’s visiting angels urged him to get his family and flee, so as to avoid being caught in the impending disaster for the iniquity of the city.
Lot delayed, so the angels took hold of his hand, his wife’s hands, and his daughters’ hands. They ushered them out of the city. The command was given, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you!”
Traveling behind her husband, Lot’s wife looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
“But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned to a pillar of salt. So it goes. People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.”
-Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
In Judaism, one common view of Lot’s wife turning to salt was as punishment for disobeying the angels’ warning. By looking back at the “evil cities”, she betrayed her secret longing for that way of life. She was deemed unworthy to be saved and thus turned to a pillar of salt.
How often have any of us longed for what we already know? Our comfort zone, so to speak? Was it really that evil of a sin to look back on a life that she knew and was accustomed to, that a suitable punishment was to be turned into salt? Literally. The angels said, “Nope. You turned your head. You must LOVE evil. We don’t care if you’re a good mom, or a compassionate person, or love your husband. You’re gone. You’re dead to us.”
I don’t know about you, but to me, this seems a bit extreme.
All Photos Courtesy of: Gaia’s Echo.
