Today is Purim, the Jewish feast that celebrates the victory
of Esther and her cousin Mordecai over Haman, who sought to exterminate all the
Jews who lived in Persia in the 5th century BCE.
You can read all about the many twists of plot and twists of
fate that occur in this short story tucked into the Hebrew Bible. It is no challenge to read all of the book of
Esther in one sitting. It’s a real
page-turner. The king of Persia
dispatches one wife and initiates a contest to pick a new wife that is an ancient
version of “The Bachelor.” The contest results in Esther becoming the new
queen. It is her position as queen that
allows her (through clever manipulation) to undo the evil plot of Haman.
The remarkable thing about Esther is that it is the only
book in the Hebrew Bible that does not mention the name of God.
In earlier Bible stories, God appears in fiery
manifestations to Moses and others; angels pay visits; God speaks through
prophets like Elijah. In fact, for all
the prophets, their stock phrase is: “Thus saith the Lord…”
But in Esther, God is silent.
So, Esther and Mordecai have to act on their own, without a
divine word to guide them. They have to
rely on what their hearts and minds tell them and on what they have learned from
the stories they have heard about God.
In other words, Esther and Mordecai are just like us.
We have to act in the world as God’s people without any
burning bushes or voices that come to us in the night. We have only our minds and hearts that have
been forged by the stories we have absorbed and our love for God to guide us.
I’d be more confident if there was a burning bush or a divine voice to direct me, but that’s not how it works. We have to act even when God is silent.
Prayer: God of our mothers and fathers, you have revealed yourself and your holy will in the stories preserved by your people. Grant us courage to write new chapters of that story with our lives. Amen.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]