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!