HAPPY PURIM

HAPPY PURIM

Esther Denouncing Haman, by Ernest Normand

"These days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants."  (Esther 9:28)

Today is the joyous holiday Purim (Feast of Lots)!

 

It is one of the most fun-filled and action-packed days on the Jewish calendar when people dress in costumes, often based on characters from the Book of Esther

Enjoying festive meals, exchanging mishloach manot (Purim gift baskets) and giving matanot l’evyonim (gifts to the poor) are essential elements of the day.

It is a Biblical tradition to send Purim baskets to family, friends, and  neighbors, as well as give gifts to the poor.

In synagogues all around the world, the entire scroll is publicly read at least twice—once last night and once during the day today. The heroine of the story is Esther, the Jewish girl who became queen of Persia some 2,400 years ago.   

                       

The antagonist of the Biblical narrative, Haman, had plotted the destruction of the Jewish People. He had no idea nor spiritual insight; however, that the king's beloved queen was actually a Jewish woman, for her identity was hidden from him, but not from the Lord.

When Esther's adopted father, Mordecai ,discovers Haman's plot, he encourages Esther to go to the king to plead for the lives of her people, saying:

"If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for all of God's Beloved will arise from another place...  who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"  (Esther 4:14)

Realizing that she may be killed for entering the king's inner chamber without being summoned and entrusting her faith and fate to God, Esther enters anyway after three days of fasting and prayer. So, too, must we fast and pray to hear from God. Consequently, Esther's trust in God courageously intervenes to save her people from certain annihilation.

To paraphrase the words of Mordecai, "YOU were called by the Lord for such a time as this!" Remain Encouraged Always



Be Blessed

K. Mason

(c) 2015
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K.Mason (c) 2015

WORD WEEK 12-04-05 IT IS WELL

WORD WEEK 12-04-05

IT IS WELL

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14


12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.



What a year this has been! We have laughed a great deal; we have cried often; we have learned much! Though tumultuous overall, this year has been illuminated by the presence of joy as well as by the presence of pandemic suffering in so many of our lives. As people of GOD, we have been inundated by the breath, presence, power, and scope of the complexities of communities' and countries' attempts to achieve understanding, ascribe meaning, ameliorate hope, and alleviate suffering in a world that has achieved unparalleled greatness, yet appears to have lost its conscience.

As we enter the season of Advent, we are deeply grateful to the LORD for the opportunity to reflect, pause, and render gratitude for GOD'S rich grace throughout the year. However, as we approach this season, we do so with a sense of expectation as well as a sense of solemnity. Expectation, because the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child reminds us that the LORD's mercies are new daily and that hope regenerates hope. Solemnity, because people are still hurting, dying, struggling, sick, complacent, despondent, shamed, ostracized, unemployed,self-focused, misrepresented, excluded, and disempowered! Life is very much a gift that is to be held sacred by all. We are all connected in the spirit and in the bond of love and must be mindful in this regard.

While many of us have sincerely given our lives to the service of others, we cannot refrain from asking the quiet question: "How different and whole could the world become if all of humanity were rendered their basic needs?" Too often, we are witnessing, at an alarming rate, the dichotomization of humanity; i.e., a distinction between and a propagation of the "HAVES" and the "HAVE NOTS."

Subsequently, as the days pass into weeks and the weeks into months, many of us are still struggling with significant concerns and issues to which no resolution nor reprieve appears apparent; concerns that are nothing short of life-threatening and that cause so many dimensions of our lives to hang in imbalance. Many of us still have concerns about our family members, while others are confronted with the challenges of staying financially solvent and/or employed, and still others are challenged with the residue of brokenness, grief, depression, loneliness, isolation, abandonment, rejection and victimization of numerous levels.

Consequently, Paul, in the text of Phillippians 3:12-14, offers us recourse and direction when we fathom and struggle with the vastness of GOD'S divine harvest; i.e., humanity. He reminds us to keep our eyes upon the goal and to press through every difficulty to reach it! Paul exhorts GOD'S BELOVED PEOPLE to forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be content with past labors or present measures of grace. In other words, thank GOD for past accomplishments, while reckoning with the ongoing invitation that the necessity to surge forth is ever-present. He reminds the BELOVED, that we must reach forth/forward in our expressions of love and have a great desire to become more and more like Christ. Paul states, "I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." In essence, he/she who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as earnestly as possible in heavenly and holy hope and terrestrial manifested joy.

In other words, despite the accomplishments that we can attribute to our work and despite the challenges that lay before us, we, THE BELOVED COMMUNITY OF GOD, must take both consolation and refuge in the unmistakable reality that GOD, our HEAVENLY FATHER, knows all and is able to change the destructive path of a nation, the excessive pride of a community, or the insignificance of those not deemed important in a twinkling of an eye! In some instances, we have witnessed the emergence of natural catastrophes and at other times unexpected devastation in our communities. During such times, we have been able to forget the superficial and band together as an earthly people. Consequently, we must refrain from allowing ourselves to be restricted by the past, but must garner the courage and the strength to press forward entrusting ourselves to GOD who will lead and direct our paths. What do we then say to such? We say, LORD, "IT IS WELL!" It is well with our soul!

READ BELOW FOR THE WORDS TO THE HYMN

"IT IS WELL"

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!

Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

K. Mason
(c) 2005

For your convenience, all of the links to Plethora Ministries sites are listed below. All you are required to do is "click" and be blessed! Please pass this on family members, friends, co-workers, and other travelers on their journey to spiritual integration and wholeness.


Blessings
Plethora Ministries
Plethora Ministries

Click here for Web log Page [contains additional reflections not sent via mail and pictures]Comments may be entered in any entry of your choice

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

Click here for "IT IS WELL" Musical Midi

plethoraministries@yahoo.com
Plethora Ministries
Please spread the word to others you know and if they are interested in receiving the WORD Of Reflection Devotion weekly , please have them send an email to plethoraministries@yahoo.com and state in the subject line: "Request for WORD." Please feel free to write Plethora Ministries with your comments: K.Mason (c) 2005