SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

THE BOOK OF ESTHER & DOLLY PARTON as seen by (me!) sandra, tvgp

independent bible study. you're invited:

so i had a vague, very vague sense of that passage... as such a time as this...

and let me say before i go one word forward, i'm certain i'm not the first to make the point i'm about to make, but i can't resist making it

i google the portion of the passage i can remember (as seen above). -this leads me to ESTHER 4:14.

there are too many interpretation/types of bibles to retype the plethora of passages available. i select from then, only my daughter's bible -designed for teens. slightly advanced for where i'm at, but will work...

my whole search is inspired by the idea that i can somehow use this bible passage to relate to my own life
-today

as in, -i was exactly born at such a time as this:

blogs. skype.

a canvas to write what i want and need to write. and a way to travel without actually traveling.

now of course i can't just read esther 4:14.. i have to read the whole book of esther so i can put it in context.

and, -uh oh! i'm liking and relating to this queen vashti way more than esther.

hmmm. -in my daughter's teen bible it reads: ESTHER -ONE TOUGH LADY. and then says this:

THE QUEEN SAVES THE DAY (queen of the blogosphere.. that's me!)
Esther is one of those made-for-tv stories. (-k- that applies...)

There's a king looking for love and a hot young lady who catches his eye out of dozens of women. (careful now.. because in 2010 i hope we've learned that capturing the attention of an authoritarian male creature is not where your value as a woman lies... do you hear me? )

The king digs her so much that he makes her queen. ( i have no comment here, only a question... about whether Esther digs the king?)

Then

a plot is unveiled that will destroy the Jews, and the new queen (who happens to be Jewish) has to decide whether or not to step out and risk her life to save the lives of many others.

-now, i can relate a little here... as, you know.. queen of the blogosphere. -because i am risking much to share my truth with strangers. risk life to save many others, may be a bit too grand for me to claim

but there is risk involved. -and i do want to help many others by sharing my truths; unedited.

and, by the way, the whole point of these books, this bible, these passages, these life stories is to inspire US. YOU AND ME. in our daily lives write now..

so i try.

In this process she learns that God places us right where God wants us right when he wants us there.

-which for me translates to: God placing me write where God wants me, write when he wants me there.

So Esther risks it all and saves the day.

Yup- TV written all over it.

But there's more to the story than just that. Esther isn't a superhero the way we think of superheroes. She was just a regular person who was willing to let God use her in an amazing way. (and that light's all my bulbs, and rings all my bells: regular person being used by God. this is my desire)

That's why this story speaks to our lives. We're a lot like Esther (but i'm more like queen vashti) (well, maybe not the hot queen thing) in that God places us where he wants us to act in mighty ways. Could we be the generation to stop AIDS? Ethnic cleansing and wars? Homelessness and poverty? Esther is the story that reminds us nothing is impossible with God, even when God uses regular people like us!


i don't have the time to retype as much as i'd like..

of course! of course! i get the message, i get the story of esther, i get the brave accomplishments, i understand her as a she-roe, and admire everything about her...

but i'm so curious about this queen vashti. if "one tough lady" applies to anyone, it appropriately applies to her.

it is just so hard to read about the oppressive control of women by men in 487-465 B.C. -when you were born in 1966

i can hardly stomach it.

so when old mr. king xerxes demands his queen be brought before him wearing her royal crown so that the nobles & others can gaze upon her beauty

and she says "no"

well, now! "go queen vashti!" -she refused to come.

i love that part. she is like my she~roe, way before queen esther one.

it says, this made the king furious, and he burned with anger.

i mean, imagine...

and we know that vashti knew that when she dared to say no to the king he wasn't going to say anything like,

-"that's okay. maybe next time"". or... "please. it would really mean a lot to me if you would do this just one more time..." or, "oh.. are you already busy?"

skip/skip, and goes on to say, What must be done to queen vashti?

What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king's orders, properly sent through his eunuchs?

-and i will abbreviate here, that it then says... why, she's dissed everyone from the king, to the nobles to the entire human population! if she can say no -that means, all women will start saying "no"

all hell will break loose on the planet!

so she was banished. of course.

and the king found a new queen. a yes queen.

now... i'm about to go waayyy out of the biblical box and compare dolly parton to esther.

yes. you read that correctly. dolly parton. esther.

here's why:

i believe after watching several interviews with dolly parton, that she said "yes" to many things women say "no" too, but because she realized this was perhaps THE ONLY WAY to serve the higher purpose she ultimately serves

she made certain sacrifices, choices, decisions in a male dominated world & industry to achieve the world wide influence/success she ultimately has acheived; and continues to achieve.

i think

based on only one quick read of the esther book in a bible made for teens

that, esther knew her painful "yes" & submission to what's his name, would ultimately save the lives of who knows how many

she is courageous. bold. amazing. beautiful. sacrificial. and a great strategists -as is our dolly parton.
-she took one for the team, as they say

so God bless her.

but far as inspiration goes, i can't let go of my admiration for queen vashti. would love to learn more about her, and what circumstances lead to her decision to say no to the king knowing full well the consequences of such an outrageous, forbidable, not to mention, illegal action
and personally,

i think, she ended up realizing -banishment was a far superior existence than living as what' his name's queen.

-and says also, -if you think your sister takes too long in the bathroom, just be glad she isn't esther. it took esther A YEAR of beauty treatments to get ready for the king.

so it's not so far: esther. dolly parton. they both surrendered to the beauty thing, so that they could save lots of lives

see.


vashti empowered. esther saved & inspired.

we are better off today thank you to all of these women.

posted by SHE @ 7:32 AM