Queen Esther
King Ahasuruerus was the ruler of Persia. Persia was a vast empire where the King’s decree was the law. His domain ranged Paddan-Haran to India and even unto Ethiopia. He called all of his princes and servants, nobles, and princes of the provinces to come to a feast. He put on display all his riches of his kingdom for one hundred and fourscore days. His wife and queen Vashti made a feast for the women. When the King’s heart was “feeling merry,” he made a command for Queen Vashti to parade before the princes, but she refused and the King and the King removed her royal estate from her.
Shortening the story, there was a search for Vashti’s replacement and the winner was Hadassah a Jewish girl, whose name was changed to Esther as a disguise of her heritage. Even though God’s name was never mentioned in the book of Esther, His finger can easily be seen. Esther had to find the courage to approach King Ahasuruerus under the fear of death to save herself and her people from and evil enemy.
I was invited on Saturday afternoon to a musical matinee performance of Esther at my oldest Granddaughter’s school. Celine is a junior this year and had a singing part in the performance. It wasn’t a leading part, but her singing and dialogue in several scenes was on cue, on key, and very entertaining. The musical departed from the biblical text, but paralleled the story to be easily recognized. The important things taken from Esther are that God is always present and He will protect His Chosen People from destruction. It also revealed one person can make the difference in the outcome of a situation.
After the performance we went to eat at Applebee’s. Because we were a larger group, there were nine of us; we had to wait until the staff could move tables together to accommodate us. I was seated across the table from Celine and I was shocked because of how she had grown. She has become a beautiful young lady. I teased my kids that I was impressed how handsome and lovely they were, considering the gene pool. I was doubly impressed as I looked across the table.