the image of God is incomplete without woman.
“male and female, He created them, “ and it’s clear - the difference is by design.
it makes sense, then, that when a woman reads and speaks and thinks and plays, she reveals something of the Divine nature that cannot be known without her.
this is not radical - this is Genesis.
“i have never heard it framed that way,” he said in response to my take on Esther.
this was not surprising - how could he have ever contemplated what it would mean for a woman to be taken and thrust into a power struggle where her desirability was currency for influence?
sex. addiction. trafficking.
it’s all there.
i don’t want to see it whitewashed or sugarcoated. it’s gross. it’s wrong.
when this girl goes in for her night with the king,
i don’t see heroism; i see victimization.
when a woman reads, she will inevitably read through the layers of her own experience.
she will see her own hurt, feel her own loss and perhaps even project her own wounds onto the text…she must beware.
but when a woman reads, she also bears a unique opportunity to reveal another facet of the image of God to those listening. we hear that esther was born “for such a time as this” and feel like it’s triumph. but isn’t it just the acknowledgement that she is here? and here is bad. so, don’t wish it away, stand and face it. and who knows? maybe you’ll live.