“For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” – Esther 4:14
Here we are at the second of only two books named for women.
Ruth is the other.
Both women are intimate with risk.
That’s why we remember them.
The Book of Esther unfolds far from Jerusalem, in the Persian empire, among Jewish people who remained in exile even after others returned home. They are learning how to live as a minority in a powerful foreign culture, holding identity and faith in a place that does not share their story.
A young Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai, Esther becomes Queen when the mercurial King becomes delighted with her.
Mordecai, a Jewish leader in the court, discovers a plot to kill all the Jewish people.
Esther faces a choice when confronted with the certain genocide of her people.
She can hold her peace, as the King James version translates.
She can hold her peace, keep silent, and preserve a cautious life.
After all, before her the former Queen Vashti’s “disobedience” got her banished.
Esther can hold her peace.
Or
Not.
Not this time.
Fierce Esther finds a way.
For such a time as this what is mine to do? Where in your life are you being invited to speak, act, or show up with courage?
Revealing who she truly is could cost Esther everything. Meditate upon this. What part of your identity or truth feels risky to reveal right now? Hold in the Light of the Divine, yourself or others for whom this is true.
Write or doodle a “For such a time as this” prayer about a time you sensed quiet guidance even when certainty was absent.
[Esther]She Didn’t Hold Her Peace [Job]The Jagged Edge of Suffering
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