So tonight at sunset began the fantastic Jewish holiday called Purim. You might be saying to yourself. "Laura's not jewish", and you would be correct in saying that. Purim is the holiday celebrated in memory of Queen Esther and basically how she stopped Haman from carrying out his plot to destroy the jews. Anyways, Sarah Jean had asked me if I wanted to celebrate Purim with her, seeing as we are both doing the Esther bible study at church and I agreed, thinking it would be lots of fun. I must admit that earlier today I had to search "purim" on wikipedia because I really wasn't exactly sure what the holiday was. I knew it had to do with Esther, but I didn't know what. After searching I realized that it's not as deep and full of historical tradition as many other jewish holidays are, and thats what I was expecting to find. But I liked the fact that it was simple, straight forward, and really just a celebration of God once again delivering His people through a human who was really just like we are.
I find it so interesting to think of who Esther was before she was chosen to be the new Queen of Persia... She had no parents... both had died at some point (more than likely when she was really young, because when she became queen she is thought to be only a teenager). She was raised by her uncle, in a city where jews just sort of blended in with everyone else. Which would make sense why she was able to get away with not telling Xerxes exactly who she was. The beginning of Ester describes her as being, "lovely in form and features" and later says that, "the king was attracted to her more than and of the other women." I just have to believe that it was more than physical beauty that set Esther apart in the eyes of the king of all of Persia. I have to believe that there is something about someone who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ that makes them attractive. And oh how I wish that it was that type of attraction that the world wanted to see. Not women whose beauty is fading with the passing of each day.
Anyways, I had fun celebrating Purim with Sarah, and I look forward to a more properly executed celebration next year.
Peace, Love, and Haman's Pocket Cookies,
Laura
So, I'm eating one of my cookies right now. So good. I feel even better knowing that we upped the fiber by making them gluten-free. Yay for flaxseed! Next year we will make the cookies in advance and hopefully invite others to praise God with us for his good and wonderful and constant deliverance! He was good then and he is still good now! We will break out the wine next year and celebrate the way everyone did in Persia.
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