Forgive me. Today I think of E.B White’s tale Charlotte’s Web. A pig is born with its usual destiny to be the dinner ham. However, he communicates hopefully with the people controlling his destiny through messages spun on a spider’s web.
Today, we have many young women gathered together like livestock. They are pampered and prepared for their destiny to meet the sexual needs of the king; a horrific story of sexual exploitation and slavery. The quest for power corrupts political structures, and suffering results. Often it is the women who suffer the deepest horrors: girls spending a year preparing to be good enough for a night with the king, then shuffled off to a harem.
God acts, however, and despite the circumstances, Esther is chosen to be queen, and things change (keep reading!).
In our world, we, too, experience great evil, and much of it lands on the shoulders of girls and women. Many are denied schooling. Sex-slavery is a lucrative business. Girl children are still being forced into marriage. Genital mutilation continues. God acts through Esther, and God acts through us, the “Charlotte” of our story, doing what we can in small ways, daily, in hope for the future.
God of grace and purpose, stir up in us the courage and commitment to seek ways daily to reflect your goodness in a world that is blinded from it. Amen. — SP