dear Esther

I had not really thought before that Esther and Mordecai were the Jews who had not gone back to Jerusalem, even though it seems they could have. They stayed in Babylon. Interesting that Esther could hide the fact that she was Jewish. It seems they were not openly distinguishable from the surrounding culture. . . a lot like us!

We too can become so steeped in our culture that we are almost indistinguishable from the world. We too can lose our sense of identity and forget who we are. . . one of God's purposes in this journey is to help us recapture both our identity and identification as His children -- not so we can be obnoxious but so we can be influential.

'nuff said!

Week 1-2

sorry i'm so very behind on posting! but i have been reading, and i thought i'd at least catch up on the first two chapters:

week 1

i thought i might think this was a little slow-moving, but i ended up liking how she described everything and lingered in the first few verses to help make the story come alive. i also thought it was challenging to think about how people can really inflame each other to make stupid decisions, such as King Xerxes advisors playing into his embarrassment and encouraging him to do something really stupid and rash. i think we do this a lot, in smaller ways than royal edicts of course, but just in joining someone who is really mad about something and instead of helping the situation we just fan their anger.

week 2

i've never thought about the story of esther in a reality show way, like the bachelor, or america's next top model, but the comparison was interesting i thought since it really was just tons of girls trying to be the most beautiful/appealing. yikes. those reality shows are painful to watch, how much more horrifying to actually be in! several of my clients at work have being in america's next top model as their highest goal in life. one of them actually made it pretty far through the audition process this year, but i don't think she made it to the actual show. i could hardly believe how skeletal she has become the last time i saw her, all in the pursuit of being the most "beautiful"! anyways, sorry for the tangent, but i liked how the book pulls out the distinction that esther "gained kindness"- not just something that happened to her. she didn't just "happen to be" the most beautiful/charming/pleasant girl in the crowd, she actively Did something different than the other girls. this i think makes esther a little more human than she can become sometimes when i think about this story.

Ok that's it for now - not gonna lie, i'm a bit behind on week 3! that whole puppy thing is rocking my schedule! but i'll catch up... i do like doing this book together!

The First Week- EB

I actually did all my homework this week! Thought it would be better to start out right, anyway...

I enjoyed the introductory session. [Shelly are you listening to the cds or just doing the workbook?]. I liked Beth's thought that a book of the Bible where God is not specifically mentioned may give us insight into those times when He seems to our human eyes to be absent in our lives- the times when He works under the radar; in the everyday instead of the miraculous. A lot of my life seems to be like that; the times when I have sensed His presence in a very obvious way are really the exception rather than the rule. I have felt Him most clearly in the moments when my human strength and "autonomy" are stripped away and I am more aware than usual of my real standing before Him. Most of the time, I think I chug along without any real awareness of where He is working in my life. I hope through this study to begin to become more sensitive to finding Him in my everyday life; it's true that the more you put into seeking Him, the easier He seems to be to "find."

In Day 2, Beth says that studying God's Word is one of the sheerest delights in her life. Maybe I've missed something along the way because I've been a Christian for almost as long as I can remember... but I'm still not sure if I could say that. I'll admit I've often approached reading my Bible as something to do to check it off the list; something I do because I know it's right... but it's a rare season where I could really say it was something I did because I wanted to it in the way she does.

This week's study spoke a lot about comparisons- about living in someone else's shadow. Do you feel like you live in someone's shadow? At first I wasn't sure I really related... I don't feel like I'm struggling to get out of any specific person's shadow... but in a sense, I think I do live in the shadow of a person who doesn't even exist- the person I feel I "should" be; that idealized version of myself to whom I'll never measure up. I can't be pretty enough, smart enough, a good enough mom or wife- to please myself. I've always been my own worst critic.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, such as they are, after our first week of study. This study is a little different from the two I've done before, but I'm excited to see where it takes us.

The beginning

I'm excited to begin our study of Esther for two reasons.

1. I'm always up for a good story. And though I have read Esther many times before, rereading Esther is like rereading any good book, much like a pleasant visit with an old friend.


2. And I'm looking forward to being more consistently in the Word, so that I view each day's events with a proper perspective.

So here we go!!!