On February 19th, I will have the opportunity to share the sermon at my church. It is United Methodist Women’s Sunday and the service will be led by women in every role. It was an honor to be asked to speak so I’ve been doing a lot of extra Bible study. Because it is UMW Sunday, I decided to go with one of my favorite women of the Bible. I have many heroines of the faith, but Esther has captivated my thoughts recently. Although I have done many different studies of the Old Testament book about her, I’m discovering new treasures this time.
In the 1950’s, Mom was quite a strikingly beautiful woman. Jane Russell and Sophia Loren didn’t hold a candle to my beautiful mother. So when scripture talks about Esther’s beauty, I picture Mom. It’s easy to image Mom being one of the beautiful young women who were sought out in all the regions of Persia to be brought to King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) after Queen Vashti’s dismissal.
Perhaps you know the story of Esther. She became Queen and was a brave ambassador for the Jewish people to the King. Although there are many wonderful traits she exhibited that are worthy of note, the chord that struck me this week is how patient she was.
Never before had I noticed how long she waited. She was chosen then brought to the keeper of the harem, Hegai. Although other girls were also brought to him, Hegai was impressed with Esther and gave her the most care. She received the best beauty treatments, was fed the finest fruits and vegetables from the king’s garden, was assigned seven servants, and was given the finest rooms. She went through twelve months of beauty treatments – twelve months! – which included six months of being treated with oil of myrrh and six months of perfume and cosmetics.
She waited twelve months to see the king, twelve months of being surrounded by only other chosen women and their servants, months of make-up and smelly stuff and only women and a eunuch for company. How overwhelming this must have been for an orphan who had lived a solitary life with her uncle Mordecai.
Although Mom doesn’t fit in Esther’s shoes exactly, I can imagine her there. Esther was taken from the only family she knew – with only brief contact occasionally – and thrust into a position far different than her previous life. After Mom fell in love with Dad and married him, she made it halfway around the world to follow him to Okinawa, Japan. She lived in a Quonset hut in a very different culture from Fayetteville, North Carolina, for a year and a half. Even after Okinawa, they were stationed in Alabama or Texas and the list goes on and on. Mom left her family of origin, too. In many ways, I can see in her the same bravery and courage Esther displayed.
The book of Esther is full of encouragement to women. My life was blessed with a mother who also empowered women. Although Mom chose a traditional path for her own role as a woman, she taught all her children that women can do or be anything. She encouraged us to follow our dreams and be prepared for whatever opportunities came our way. Decades before it became trendy to discuss women’s rights or equality, Mom taught us in her home. She demonstrated a life well-lived and being prepared for whatever comes ahead.
The book of Esther’s most quoted scripture comes from chapter 4, verse 14. Mordecai, her uncle, is advising Esther of her responsibility to her Jewish kin to prevent the uprising against them.
“If you stay silent during this time, deliverance for the Jews will come from somewhere, but you, my child, and all of your father’s family will die. And who knows? Perhaps you have been made queen for such a time as this.”
Mom blessed my life in so many ways. That’s why I write about her each week. Right now, I’m most grateful for the thousands of little ways she taught me to wait and to be prepared. Just like Esther, there will be times that I am in situations where God has put me for “such a time as this.”
To be continued…
