Art Inspired by Esther
During the Esther sermon series, we spent time looking at what this story can mean for our lives. Four artists share with us their unique expression of these themes.
Do We Know Them? by Miriam Burow
“Mankind has always been drawn to the morally ambiguous ones.
Modern literature, ancient legend, folklore, old wives’ tales, and even the Bible are full of them. Greek mythology gods, the Coyote figure in Native American lore, Br’er Rabbit, the mysterious Fair Folk in the Gaelic lands, Anansi the Spider in Africa, Loki, Gollum, Clint Eastwood characters, Deadpool. Why? Is it because when these characters present themselves in our stories we listen a little closer, for we know the tale will be interesting?
Their unpredictability is maddening and intoxicating. Will they help our cause or hurt it? We love these mysterious ones, but when we’re honest, we realize we are desperate to have them help, to be good. We don’t watch a movie to watch a morally ambiguous main character choose evil, we’ve paid to see them give into their better selves and rise to be the hero.
In the Bible, a book full of heroic characters and deeds, one character alone rises far above all others as the one and true hero: Christ. He is the hero we desperately want and need, the one we base our best stories and myths and comic book heroes on, one we can try and emulate but never hope to match. The one true myth.
The hero will always and can only ever be good, but not so for the morally ambiguous.
Perhaps mankind loves the morally ambiguous figures because we all share a common and unconscious recognition in them—they are us. We love their cunning, their humor, their failure to adhere to the laws. If Christ is the hero, then at best we can only be ambiguous, the antihero who hopes to do right this time but realizes we could easily do wrong instead.
In our stories, we never know if the morally ambiguous characters will do right or wrong, but just like us, they have a choice, and we desperately hope that they (and we) do right this time.”
Untitled by Tonya Bartels
“Joy is not the absence of sadness
But instead choosing to have Hope while in the presence of it
Peace is not the absence of chaos
But instead choosing to have faith in the presence of it
Security/safety is not the absence of fear
But instead choosing to trust in the presence of it
My life is no more defined by circumstances than my God is; but if I choose to define my God by my circumstances, it will be.”
The Butterfly Effect by LJ Judy
"I am so intrigued by the butterfly effect—that every choice we make has consequences, some monumental and some minuscule. It’s easy to invite God into the big choices. But even in the dusty nook-and-cranny choices that we don’t invite him into—whether intentionally or not—he still accomplishes his purposes through them. He isn’t surprised by our choices because he already knows them and has been working in them. To state it plainly: God doesn’t need us to fulfill his plans. But there is joy because he wants us to be a part! So may we have the courage and wisdom to say yes and join God in the work he is already doing in our lives, for the sake of others."
Brittle Ceilings by Laura Candeletta-Burklin
“Sometimes progress doesn’t come in the shape we anticipate it to—not always in the form of table-flipping, overthrowing, or abolitionists. Oftentimes it’s less satisfying, slower paced, and frustratingly surrounded by walls and barriers. None of which are too boring, too drawn out, or too high for God to overcome. The Lord uses Esther to show us that following Jesus looks a lot like perseverance in messy places and championing his purposes within them. Jesus died for you and me and them. Regardless of which side of the barrier we find ourselves, an opening is always possible with Christ.”