paravanes:meditations

(c) Deborah Evans If you haven't reviewed it, read the July 22 post for the first part of this story. There are two summary lessons from Hagar's story. Let's take a look at them. As you read, consider how these lessons may apply to you. Lesson 1: Although none of the "power players" in Hagar's environment cared about her, God cared and God acted. This caring and this acting made all of the difference. If you read the previous post, you know the power players in Hagar's life were Abraham and Sarah, her owners. Both Abraham and Sarah used Hagar without concern for her well-being or safety. When Sarah felt Hagar was no longer useful, Sarah ordered her husband to throw Hagar and Hagar's son out of the house. Sarah's husband obeyed. In fact, God directed Abraham to obey his wife Sarah regarding throwing Hagar out of the house. If God cared about Hagar, why did he allow Hagar and Ishmael (her son) to be put out of the house and into the wilderness? God w...

(c) Deborah Evans Hagar's story (beginning in Genesis 16 and ending in Genesis 21) is a story about injustice to and enslavement of women in the ancient world. Hagar's story also tells us how God loves those considered disposable and unimportant. Hagar's story is complex.. Read Genesis 16 through 21. As you read the story, you will learn how Sarah, Hagar's owner and mistress, manipulated and misused Hagar. Early in the story, Hagar runs away and God tells Hagar to go back. Was God endorsing slavery? In this case, God had a plan, a timed plan, that delayed (but not denied) Hagar's departure. Sarah urges her husband Abraham to have intercourse with Hagar. Sarah is hoping to "take and own" any male child resulting from this interaction. Abraham follows Sarah's urging and a child, Ishmael, is born by Hagar. Eventually, in light of God's promise, Sarah and Abraham have a son of their own named Isaac. As time passes, Sarah is offended by the actions and ...

  The Great Divorce , by C.S. Lewis. Harper One, 2000. 146 pages. (Originally published in 1946.) From the preface : "Evil can be undone, but it cannot "develop" into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, 'with backward mutters of disserving power'--or else not. If we insist on keeping Hell, (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven; if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell." This book is not about the legal process of ending a marriage contract, Nor is it theology. Instead, Lewis' fable is about an imaginary trip from between Hell and Heaven. The book features imaginary characters who engage in a pursuit and a discussion of the deepest, most important realities: how do my choices bring me close to God, or away from God? What is the nature of Heaven? What is the nature of Hell? Lewis, an Episcopalian, draws a deeper meaning of these places than will be found in po...

  Image from livescience.com If you are not familiar with Daniel, read the first three chapters of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In the first three books of Daniel, we learn (from an ancient historical account) how to function as Christ followers in a modern world--a world that does not see or acknowledge Jesus Christ as lord and king. We also see how Daniel's commitment to authentic discipleship built a foundation that kept him stable and secure when facing unjust persecution, mistreatment, and possible execution. Lesson 1: If you live in Babylon (the place of godlessness, the place that worships and elevates power, privilege, and the love of money), acknowledge the truth of where you are.  If you can leave, go. If you must stay, brace yourself. What does bracing yourself look like? Live where you must, but do not become what you see or what surrounds you. How did Daniel accomplish this?  Daniel did not forget where he was. He did not call good "evil". He...

  If you want to understand how the power of scripture and belief in the God of scripture can transform, empower, and elevate the believer, you must read Transforming Scriptures: African American Women Writers and the Bible by Katherine Clay Bassard (University of Georgia Press, 2010).  If unknown to you, allow Clay Bassard's book to introduce you to the work of Maria W. Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Harriet Jacobs, Hannah Crafts, Harriet E. Wilson (19th century African American women writers/public speakers) and to the work of more recent and perhaps familiar names Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Shirley Anne Williams.  What you will find, particularly in  some of the 19th century authors, is a tradition of extreme discipleship. Stewart and Harper, in particular, demonstrate in their lives and writings the power of God working in women who trusted God's purpose for them more than they listened to a hostile world's assessment of them. In this book, yo...