Through a thousand chains and through a thousand perils, for your sake young woman, I performed these miracles!

I was there when they beat and tortured Samson. I saw them drag him through the streets. Battered and bloody he lay crumpled in the corner of his jail cell. Instead of healing herbs, he was given stinging nettle and salt mixed with the juice of a lemon. Did he ever cry out in pain? No, he didn’t make a sound. I instructed his jailers in how to best chain him to the wall. The pain of those heavy links must have been unbearable. Wearing a disguise, he never saw me.

When they interrogated him, I gave them lists upon lists of difficult question. And, when they laughed at him, I told them all of his weaknesses. These were things I knew personally. None of these tactics worked. In the end, he dashed the chains into pieces. Next, he bent the bars and flew to his freedom, all the while chanting,”Delilah, Delilah”, chanting my name.

Watercolor and gold on paper. Copyright 2010 by Kelley Vandiver