Monday, April 6, 2020

It IS a Wonderful World


The movie Good Morning, Viet Nam was not filmed until 1987 but was set in Saigon, 1965. If not for Robin Williams and the story line involving pop music vs Lawrence Welk’s orchestra, I could not have sat through it. The humor relieved tension as specific images brought me to tears: the convoys, the jungle attacks, the napalm bombs, the screaming civilians. The movie’s action was early depicted against Martha and the Vandellas’ classic “Nowhere to Run” and concluded by juxtaposing Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World.”

Today, amid news of coronavirus and COVID-19, I hear number of cases, number of patients on ventilators, number of dead, refrigerated trucks serving as temporary morgues. It's so dire, it's hard to comprehend, such as the depth of the Vietnam war as I dropped by tween classes at the Henderson State student union, 1966-69.

This week, some say, data may show the “apex” in NYC. While Arkansas’ results have been far below prediction, medical professionals suggest the peak in states sparsely populated is not far off. I am both encouraged and wary. It is a wonderful world, but the world is in a pandemic.

Here I sit on the deck with a slight breeze and the buzz of bumble bees begging to be swatted into next week. An iced beverage to my right and trees of green before me. Robins hop through the clover in search of supper where I just plucked several of the four-leaf variety for my collection. I revel in the vibrant pink and purple Wave petunias I planted yesterday. This morning, a hummingbird checked on my supply of nectar and a walk provided time for reflecting on the beauty of the day against the trials of Holy Week.


And then, I came face to face with a gorgeous dogwood tree, its blossom the symbol of Christ’s cross. Holy week spirals headlong into despair and shudders at that moment Jesus gave up the ghost. Saturday, though, I will pause, I will wait because I know that Sunday’s coming.

It is a Wonderful World.

Sunday, April 5, 2020

A novel approach to Esther's story - FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS


Hadassah: One Night with the King
·       While not a book I'd choose again, this novel was recommended after I posted the beautiful phrase - Perhaps you were born for such a time as this Esther 4: 14 
A novel based on Scripture in Esther – Tommy Tenney from Louisiana – has several similar novels.
·       Take-away about the novel (fiction – or historical fiction)
1.     The author adds details of a ‘back story’ and weaves an enriched story-line into the scriptural passages in the Book of Esther.
2.     The author describes festivals, palaces, homes, people, and adds fictional characters such as Jesse, Jacob, and Rachel who populate the narrative.
3.     The story is from a letter made into a book that is read by the “next in line” of the women to come into a position of power as in married to an influential man. The story is supposed in the hand of the true Queen Esther, told in her voice.
Historical time period
1.     486-465 B.C.
2.     Code of Hammurabi has been in effect
3.     King Darius and King Xerxes
4.     Queen Vashti
5.     Grecian Wars with Persia
6.     Feast of Purim
7.     Time after the story – Xerxes murdered within 4 years and the Palace burned within 6 years
Scripture and Lineage
1.     1 Samuel 15 – about King Agag and the Amalekites
2.     The Chronicles (public record, record of the kings and the city)
3.     Esther 2: 7 – Hadassah, daughter of Abehai
4.     Esther 3: 10 – Haman son of Hamnedatha the Agagite
5.     Esther 3: 2, 4 – Mordecai – son of Jair
6.     Remaining chapters conclude the story with Haman’s demise
Culture
1.     Royal extravagance and opulent beauty
2.     Code of Conduct strict at penalty of immediate death
3.     Ritual role of boys and girls – even in disguising themselves (Yentl – Barbra Streisand movie)
4.     Hedonism
5.     Savagery, torture, ferocity, ruthlessness
6.     Death penalty involving gallows
7.     Palace concubines and eunuchs (how did we suppose these people came to be who and what they are. The author gives his researched take on this cultural institution.)
Discourse on these topics:
1.     The presence of God
2.     Discerning the Voice of God
3.     God’s overall plan for Good
4.     Questions of Why? And God’s response
5.     Relationship with God as Father
6.     Conversations with God
7.     Intimacy
8.     Marriage
9.     Health and Dietary laws
10.  Sexual love
Concepts that persist through Christianity
1.     “My heart broke with you…” in the midst of your pain.
2.     “I simply conversed with God.”
3.     “A reason that would reveal itself over time.”
4.     “God’s Law guides our choices but does not guarantee our outcome.”
5.     “Make godly choices within the course available to you. He will guide you.”
6.     “God walks through disappointments with us.”
7.     “God goes before me and prepares the way.”
8.     “What we purpose in our hearts…”
9.     “God has a different path – Trust Him.”
10.  “Please, LORD, Give me wisdom.”
11.  Page 194 in the novel – FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

Incongruencies in dialogue (sounds too modern to have been written or spoken by Queen Esther)
“literally and figuratively”     “I bit my tongue.”   “going off in my head.”  “good old-fashioned disgust.”
Private parts, slop bucket, tip-toed, puffy eyes, “Well, girls…”  “butterflies”  “Give me 10 minutes.”
“From the looks of things…” How Hadassah became Esther (name change, etc…totally contrived)

To me, these words and phrases sound too colloquial for something supposedly written in a scroll and then transcribed into a book.