Questions to Ponder

1. Esther is chosen to be queen by means of a bizarre beauty contest. As a concept, ‘beauty’ is abstract, and difficult to define.  How would you recognise or identify beauty?
   
   
2. In the series we are following, Esther is the only woman identified, leading to the possibility that she is there as a ‘token woman’. In our endeavours to celebrate diversity, and to be inclusive, do we risk ‘tokenism’ based on gender, ethnicity, age, marital status, sexuality, etc.? Is some form of ‘box ticking’ either helpful or necessary in establishing/encouraging diversity?
   
   
3. If you were invited to make a list of Bible characters for you own team, who would you include in order to better reflect the diversity in the people of God? Why did you choose these rather than others?

4. Mordecai famously said to Esther, “Do not think because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.”  How do you feel when you read this?  Why is that?
   
   
5. ‘For such a time as this’… If I/we heard that spoken to us, what is the unique opportunity we have to be God’s person or people? What is it about me/us that makes us God’s person/people for this time?
   
   
6. “If you don’t do this, another way will be found… but…” Two very different questions to ponder here:
   
   
   1. What might I/we miss out on in opting not to fulfil God’s call at this time?
   2. Do you think that there are times when humans thwart God’s ‘Plan A’ and a ‘Plan B’ is needed?  Why do you think that?

Yesterday as part of our service, inspired by the story of Esther, we talked a little bit about beauty and beauty-contest mentality.

I was aware of this video on BBC London website, which says everything I wanted to say, only better., and now I'm sharing it...

Yesterday I travelled a long way on five trains (and five more back again) to attend the ordination and induction of a minister for whom I've been invited to act as mentor during her first three years of ministry.

It was a very happy service.  A small, grant-aided church on the edge of a big city, their usual congregation  augmented by representatives of two denominations (it's an LEP), the college where she trained and a variety of friends and family.

I love ordination and induction services (combined or separate), they always remind me of my own, and reconnect me with the promises I made in years past.

What was good yesterday, in a congregation where there at least as many women baptist ministers as in the whole of Scotland, this was totally unpassremarkable.  What was good that no-one commented on the fact that the candidate and the preacher were women; there was no notice taken that one of those who laid on hands was a black woman minister... and it felt so very, very good.

I hope for a day when it is equally unpassremarkable in other contexts too... when my unchosen place in history is firmly consigned to history, and other 'firsts', onwhatever basis they are deemed noteworthy, have also come and gone.

It was a long day, a long way to go for a 90 minute serivce, but it was well worth while.

Rev LH may God bless you in your ministry at WUFC now and for many years to come. Amen.

This website is worth a look, whether you think you have thought through this topic or not.  In a series of short, easy to understand videos, we are granted a scholarly look at some of the key 'clobber texts' and arguments about same sex relationships.

For sure, human sexuality is a much broader topic, but that doesn't diminish the value of this resource as a starting point for anyone who wants to understand better what the Bible does or does not have to say about same sex relationships.  It is also a helpful resource for anyone who wants to reflect on the lenses through which we read scripture and the dnager of assuming there is a single, plain reading that is always valid.

Today the vet who has cared from the Clepto Kitties, and who previously cared for Holly Bethany Cat, retires.  I've never had a vet retire on me before - but then to be fair, I've never been with the same vet long enough for this to be a possibility.

The practice we are registerd with was established in 1945 and our vet has been there since the 1990s, having previously worked elsewhere in both England and Scotland.  What is special about this practice is that it is so caring and so interested in both the animals and their people.  Over the last seven years or so (eek!) there has been solid, wise advice, practical suggestions along with a good blend of pragmatism (your cats don't to be wormed or have flea teatment if they never go outside) and common sense (buy some products on line and save a fortune).

Even today, we chatted about how best to manage Sasha's chronic medical condition in an honest, open and helpful way.

I wish my (former) vet a long, happy and healthy retirement.  That she will be much missed is, I think, the best testament to all she's been and done.