Book Review: The Book of Jonah by Joshua Feldman

When I was offered a copy of The Book of Jonah by the publisher for review I was intrigued with the premise that it was a retelling of the Biblical story of Jonah in the form of a modern novel. This is the first novel by the author, Joshua Max Feldman.

Although I didn't expect to find the plot to include a whale that swallowed the protagonist, I did expect that the story would carry a discernible religious theme of the call of God on the life of an individual. However, I was disappointed to find almost no resemblance between the theme of the Biblical story and this novel.

The Jonah of this book is a young, Jewish, ambitious attorney whose career and romance are derailed by strange visions that he decides come from God but that do not bring him a clear message. The visions are erratic and confusing and so are his responses to them. The Biblical Jonah received a very clear message from God that he didn't like and did his best to avoid fulfilling. The Jonah of this book believes the visions are from God but can't interpret them.

After his dramatic termination from his law firm he crosses paths with Judith Bulbrook, a brilliant but deeply disturbed young woman who is also Jewish and whose emotional problems stem from the loss of her parents who were on one of the planes that crashed on 9/11.

Neither of the major characters are particularly sympathetic--but then neither is the character of Jonah in the original Biblical tale. The plot meanders between the two of them and then brings them together in an unbelievable turn of events at the end of the book. It is at this point that the author seems to remember that he intended to strengthen the religious themes of the story and suddenly they are made explicit but don't seem to relate to earlier development of the characters and the plot.

Ordinarily I would quit reading a book that I found unappealing at the halfway point or earlier, but since I had accepted a copy for review I was honor-bound to finish the entire thing. If the themes suddenly brought forward at the end of the novel had been developed throughout the narrative the novel would be much improved.

Book Review: Dance The Moon Down by R. L. Bartram

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the guns of August--the outbreak of World War I. Dubbed the "war to end all wars" by American President Woodrow Wilson, it sadly was nothing of the sort as World War II followed close behind.

World War I marked the end of the Victorian/Edwardian era in Great Britain and is viewed as a watershed moment in its history. Dance the Moon Down by R. L. Bartram is a historical novel set in England during this time and centering on the experiences of Victoria Avery, an educated upper middle class woman of the period.

The strength of the novel is the author's ability to describe civilian life during this epic period of British history with a particular focus on the experiences of younger women like the heroine who lives through the changing social mores, brushes up against the rising suffragette movement, marries and suffers uncertainty about the fate of her soldier husband, and finds herself learning more about manual labor than she ever expected as she scrambles to support herself in a wartime economy.

However the weakness of the novel is that the narrative is contrived in a way to systematically place Victoria into every possible experience of women of this time so that it can be highlighted. Another problem for me was the failure to develop the plot and characters through the narrative of the novel. For example, the author often tells the reader what to think about the characters rather than letting their words and actions reveal their personalities. And too often the author reveals to the reader what is going to happen next rather than allowing the plot to develop without prophetic commentary.

That said, Dance the Moon Down is a thoughtful and well-researched portrait of the effects of the Great War on British society. I recommend it to those who are interested in social history and the history of World War I.

This is an Authors Online book and the author contacted me and offered me an e-copy for review. My apologies to him for taking much longer than I should have to finish the book and write this review and my thanks to him for the opportunity to review it.

Book Review: Faithful Unto Death and Safe From Harm, Sugar Land Mysteries

It's been awhile since I blogged regularly, but I've been feeling  nudged to begin again and what better way to do that then to share a couple of favorites from my recent reading with my Gentle Readers.

Faithful Unto Death and Safe From Harm are two new mysteries featuring a minister sleuth set in my own town of Sugar Land, Texas. "Everything is perfect in Sugar Land, except it's not" is the theme of this new series.

Walker "Bear" Wells is the head pastor of the mega-size Church of Christ in this upscale suburban master-planned community. A former University of Texas football player, he lives with his wife Annie Laurie, his rebellious younger daughter Jo, and his Newfoundland dog  and texts regularly to his college age  daughter Merrie away at Texas Tech. Rounding out the continuing cast of characters is the church secretary Rebecca and her two badly behaved porcine pugs, and local Detective James Wanderley who Bear clashes with frequently.

Stephanie Jaye Evans is the daughter of a Church of Christ minister and a long-time resident of Sugar Land. In fact, she lived down the street from one of my best friends. She wrote the first book, Faithful Unto Death, as the capstone project for her masters degree in liberal studies at Rice University and it won the 2010 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers. No, I never heard of that award before either, but I'm not surprised because both of these mysteries establish that Evans has serious literary chops as well as being a master story-teller.

My RevGals who enjoy mysteries featuring clergy amateur sleuths will really love these two books. Bear, his faith, his family, his neighbors and his church are portrayed realistically and not sentimentally. Trust a PK (preacher's kid) to understand the humanity beneath the collar. Texans, Houstonians and Sugar Landers will particularly enjoy the familiar places, people and attitudes they will find in the books.

There is a clear progression and development of characters from Faithful Unto Death to Safe From Harm that I expect to see continue with the next book. The mysteries have unexpected twists and turns and the conclusions have some ambiguity--just like real life.

I can't wait for the third book in this series!

Of Newtown and Magical Thinking

The Newtown tragedy brings to mind my experiences many years ago as an assistant district attorney when, among other things, I was assigned to cover the mental health hearings in the probate court of Bexar County, Texas. Every other Wednesday I met the probate judge and his clerk at his office in the courthouse and we drove together down South Presa street to the county mental health hospital. There we held involuntary and voluntary commitment hearings in a small conference room. At that time it was much easier to extend commitments than it is today.

Most of the inmates suffered from mental illnesses combined with related addictive behaviors. The hospital was pretty shabby but the inmates were at least housed, fed, medicated and protected from injuring themselves or others. The unintended consequences of the later movement to protect individuals from abuse of the mental health commitment processes of that day has been to drastically reduce mental health treatment and increase danger of injury to these patients and to the public. 

I read about twice as many calls for gun control legislation as I do for increases in funding for mental health. And I have not yet read or heard of anyone advocating changing the laws relating to involuntary commitments for those with potentially dangerous untreated mental illnesses. Yet the news today tells us that the shooter in Newtown may have become enraged because he knew that his mother was trying to get him committed to a mental health facility for treatment. That process is very cumbersome and takes too much time when a patient is in a potentially dangerous mental state.

As a society we tend to engage in magical thinking in times of tragedy like this. We think that the solution to tragedies like this lies in the legislative process. Pass some new laws to restrict gun possession and increase funding for mental health treatment and, VOILA, problem solved! 

I'm not saying new legislation in these areas is not needed, but neither will it be a cure. If not carefully thought through, new laws may bring negative unintended consequences, just as the well-intentioned changes in involuntary commitment processes resulted in growth of a troubled, untreated homeless population across the country.

I don't have the answers and I wish that I did. I do know there are too many  struggling with the problem of getting good, consistent treatment for mentally ill family members and that they also need counseling and training themselves in helping their loved ones manage these difficult, chronic conditions. 

It's going to take a lot more than magical thinking and political posturing to prevent future tragedies like Newtown. God help us.

Number 703 on the alphabetical chart

In answer to the question, "where are the Christian women bloggers?", the author of the blog Slacktivist at the patheos.com website put together a list of 1,001 blogs by Christian women you should know. 

The list is strictly alphabetical and so Quotidian Grace comes in at number 703 here.

Thanks for the mention! Now maybe I'll be inspired to blog more regularly in the New Year?

#mulling2013resolutions

BSD Blogging: Lesson 11 Standing Firm

Reading Paul's letters in an ekklesia.

Here is a link to my lecture today on Lesson 11 which is the second lesson in the BSD study of Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians: Standing Firm.

I focused on giving more background and history on the culture and city of Corinth and the new Christian community there in order to deepen our understanding of Paul's message in this letter. 

BSD Blogging: A Brief Intro to Corinth

This week our BSD groups begin studying Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth--which we learned in the lesson is the fourth known letter to these early Christians, with the first and third having been lost to us. We can better understand Paul's message if we put on those "three-dimensional" glasses to see what the city of Corinth and the church were like in Paul's day.

First of all, Corinth was really a new Roman city built on the ruins of the Greek city of Corinth which was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC and resettled  by decree of Julius Caesar in 446 BC. Situated on a narrow isthmus of land, Corinth had two seaports: one leading to Italy and one to Asia. The city was a major commercial center and, like most successful port cities, attracted a very diverse population.  

That population included many Jewish refugees from Rome, who had been expelled by order of the emperor in 49 AD. Among these Roman Jews were Priscilla and Aquila, leaders in the early church in Corinth. 

Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth were read and shared by a number of house churches, not just one congregation. At this time the church was organized by households which in Roman culture (remember this is a Roman city and the Jews in Corinth were Roman Jews) which included more than the nuclear family. Slaves, freedmen, hired workers, tenants and skilled craftsmen were considered part of the household and were expected to follow the faith of the head of the household. They gathered for worship and a shared meal in private homes, not in synagogues or separate buildings. Some of these house churches were led by women who were independently wealthy either by inheritance or through their own business dealings.

Imagine Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians being read aloud in one of the early house churches and then being copied and passed along to the next Christian household! Many of those hearing his words were illiterate and could not have read it for themselves. We are going to spend the rest of our BSD study learning this letter that gives us a window into the early church in Corinth and Paul's sometimes strained but always loving relationship with it.

BSD Blogging: Nehemiah's Tweets

What if Nehemiah had a Twitter account to tweet the events we are studying this week in chapters 11, 12 and 13? Might it look something like this....

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Shout out to everyone moving into Jerusalem today! Bessings on you! #Benjamin #Judah 

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Busy organizing wall dedication for tomorrow. Need more singers and harpists. @musiciansunion

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov.
Where are the supplies for sacrifices?Need offerings before nightfall brought to the temple.#priests

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
What a wonderful day at the dedication! Thanks to the Levites, priests, temple servants for a job well done. #praisetoYWHW

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
My work is done here. The King has recalled me to the capital. People, keep your covenant!
#priests #levites

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
On the road again back to Persia. Looking forward to reunion with friends and some great food! #nooasisinsight #arewethereyet

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
What's up, Jerusalem? Back in Persia and miss you all.  #emailme #friendme

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Haven't heard from you Jews for several years. Keeping the covenant? #letmeknow

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
God calls me back to Jerusalem and the King agrees. See y'all soon! #hatedeserttravel #saddlesores

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
OH NO!!! #fail #EPICFAIL #covenantbreakers

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
@Eliashib: What the blazes are you doing? #covenantbreaker #YWHWisnotmocked

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
@Tobiah: Get Lost! #andyourstufftoo #anddon'tcomeback

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Jerusalem's gates  now closed on the Sabbath from sundown to sunrise effective immediately--no more trading on the Sabbath. #covenantbreakers #cutitout #YWHWsaidso

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Not apologizing for losing my temper with those of you who married foreign women.#covenant breakers #getawig

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Grateful for Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah and Hanan's honest oversight of future distributions to the Levites. #YWHWwillblessyou #standfirm

Nehemiah@NehemiahGov
Duty calls me back to the King. Remember me with favor, O my God, for my faithful work in Jerusalem. #earnestprayers 

BSD Blogging: Link to Lecture on Lesson 8

I'm tardy posting the link to my lecture last Thursday on Lesson 8 which covers chapters 9 and 10 of Nehemiah. Sorry about that!

Click here for A Firm Foundation: The Word, Worship and Confession. 

Chapter 9 is Ezra's penitential prayer on behalf of the people and chapter 10 is the renewal of the covenant between the people and God.

This week our lesson wraps up this study of Nehemiah, and the following week we begin the study of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. If you've been wanting to join us, this would be the perfect time to do it! 

BSD Blogging: Some Sabbath Books

I'm doing the lecture this week on chapters 9 and 10 of Nehemiah and while preparing the lecture I got to thinking about Sabbath and Sabbath-keeping--or the lack of it--today.

Since that train of thought really didn't belong in the lecture, given the constraints of time, I'm going to share a couple of books on the subject that I have found worthwhile.

The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time by Judith Shulevitz is written by a Jewish author, but she has an understanding of the place of the Sabbath in the New Testament as well. This book is interesting because Shulevitz is attentive both to the spiritual and the psychological aspects of Sabbath-keeping. I wrote a full review of the book here if you would like more information. I notice it is no longer available on amazon.com, but can be found from other sellers.

The Gifts of the Jews by Thomas Cahill includes some interesting passages about the concept of Sabbath as well as a fascinating discussion of the importance of the religious concepts of the Jews for western civilization.

Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment with Holy Time by MaryAnn McKibben Dana will be of particular interest to parents of young children who are wondering how to incorporate the principles of Sabbath into modern suburban life. The author is a Presbyterian minister whose family committed to practice the Sabbath for a year and documented the experience. She also provides suggestions for families who are looking for ways to incorporate some aspects of Sabbath into their lives.

Happy reading!

BSD Blogging: Samaritans of the 21st Century

Modern-day Samaritans celebrating Shauvoth on Mount Gezirim

In Nehemiah we read of the enmity between the Samaritans--especially their governor Sanballat--and the Jews during the post-exilic period when the Jews were returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding it.

We know that enmity continued in the time of the New Testament, but what happened to the Samaritans and Samaria? Inquiring minds want to know.

A few years ago I looked this up when I was teaching a class on Luke and got to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Much to my surprise I learned that a small group (about 750) of Samaritans continue to live in Israel today and practice their own unique religious tradition which is related to Judaism but relies on a Samaritan Torah and commentaries. Modern Samaritans claim descent from two tribes of Israel: Manasseh and Ephraim. They live near  Mount Gezirim, where tradition says Abraham took Isaac for sacrifice and which they say is the original holy site of the Israelites. 

Samaritans believe the Jews practice an altered and amended form of religion which developed after their return from Babylonian exile while Samaritans maintained the purity of the original worship and beliefs of the Israelites. Over the centuries the number of Samaritans declined due to bloody historical events and the forced mass conversion of many to Islam in the early Muslim period of Palestine. The 700+ Samaritans remaining in Israel today are members of five family groups and there are some Samaritans scattered around the world, including some in the United States. 

BSD Blogging: Lesson 6 Lecture Link

I meant to post about Lesson 6 which covers chapter 5 of Nehemiah but life got in the way as I was preparing this lecture!

The theme of the lesson is compassionate leadership. Focus of the lecture is on Nehemiah's Economic Stimulus plan and the problem of self-serving bias. A special tip of the QG chapeau to John Ortberg and chapter 14 of his new book The Me I Want To Be for providing great food for thought on the subject of self-deception. It's timely study that almost seems taken from today's headlines!

Here's the link to the podcast of this morning's lecture: BSD Lesson 6.

Questions, comments and discussion are welcome as always!

Cutting Myself Down to Size: The Payoff !Part 3

Now that I am close to my goal I'm having the most fun ever buying a new wardrobe--from the inside out. I have lost 3 sizes and now happily shop in the regular women's section rather than the plus size department. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that because I'm not used to it.

It started about midway through the summer when my daughters started fussing at me for continuing to wear clothes that were by then two sizes too large. I eventually took the hint and began donating the largest clothes to charity and buying a few new things in a smaller size.

Then recently Daughter Babs took me in hand and marched me into stores I haven't shopped in for years. It was like having my own personal Stacy London without the notoriety of having to appear on What Not to Wear. She made me try on styles I never would have chosen in the past and to my surprise--they worked. Really well! Things like slim leg pants and jeans, pencil skirts, form-fitting blouses and tops, short sweaters, and even some heels are now in my closet. It does take a lot of mental adjustment to adjust to a new body size. 

Some old habits kept cropping up, though. Because it was hard to find clothes that fit when I was heavier--especially since I am so tall--I had a habit of buying the same item in several colors or patterns if I liked it. It's been a revelation to realize that I have far more choice now than I did before. I don't need to keep buying duplicates or shopping exclusively online. I have more choices than I can deal with most of the time. Amazing!

When I started wearing the new duds, I was almost embarrassed by the attention and compliments I got from family, friends and acquaintances. It really made a difference to have clothes that fit.

My advice for fellow travelers on this weight loss journey is to ruthlessly donate those "fat" clothes and replace them with items that fit. The first time you may want to limit  the number of purchases and their cost if you anticipate losing another 20 pounds or more. (This may vary according to your size. With my height it takes a lot of weight to make a difference in sizing while it would take less for someone who is petite.) I didn't buy "good" items until I got close to goal. But it is important not not to keep those larger sizes on hand "just in case." You don't want to allow yourself that option!

And thus endeth this series and the lesson. Next month will mark my the one year anniversary of my new way of eating. I pledge to update my status 6 months from then--in May--as a way of keeping myself accountable. Best of luck to the rest of you and let me know how you are doing!

BSD Blogging: Community and Personal Threats

This week we are reading chapters 4 and 6 of the book of Nehemiah. It may strike you as odd to skip over chapter 5, but the themes of chapter 4 and chapter 6 are similar: threats against the community of builders in chapter 4 and personal threats against their leader Nehemiah in chapter 6. We'll study chapter 5 next week which recounts Nehemiah's fiscal reforms that addressed an economic crisis that also threatened the rebuilding effort. 

In reading some of the commentaries on these two chapters I learned that as a general rule the kings of the Persian empire did not permit cities within the empire to have walls around them. Walled cities made it easier for local strongmen to put their own armies inside the walls and rebel against the rule of the king.The Persian kings were constantly engaged in putting down rebellion in various parts of their empire and sometime it cost them their own lives when (as happened with Ataxerxes' father Xerxes) men close to them took advantage of their relationship to assassinate them. It was much easier for the king to send in troops from neighboring loyal provinces to put down rebellion and exert authority over a city if there was no wall that had to be breached. In Ezra we see the Samaritan troops easily entering Jerusalem to stop the rebuilding of the wall under orders from King Ataxerxes. We also know that the Persian kings were constantly engage

But God strengthens Nehemiah's influence with the King  so that he has reverses this long-standing policy and authorizes the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. It's no wonder that Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem are disturbed by this change in direction and find it hard to believe that Nehemiah is being trusted to rebuild the wall and remain loyal. 

It seems to me that Nehemiah's unshakable faith in God's call to this task strengthened  both his reliance on his close relationship with the king so that he fearlessly brushes off the attempts to threaten both the builders and his own life and leadership. Which once again reminds us that God not only calls us to specific work for his Kingdom but also works through other people to support us in our tasks.

Cutting Myself Down to Size--Part Two

I chose to do Weight Watchers online instead of attending meetings and it worked really well for me. Years ago I did attend WW meetings,  but I have this besetting sin of impatience with meetings  I'm not in charge of. This time I decided that with the WW apps for the phone and IPad, which include the tracker as well as a scanner that reads the barcodes in the grocery store and tells you the points for the item and a cooking app that has tons of recipe suggestions, I could just do it electronically. I love seeing the graph that appears as you track your weight loss on the app!

For months I was very faithful recording the points and then got more lax as I repeated the same meals and got closer to my goal. But anytime I start to slip I begin tracking again. For me, the new WW points plus plan that allows you to eat all the fresh fruit you want without counting it made a big difference. If you aren't a fan of fruit, then it won't help you. I also found I had fewer cravings when I kept my carbs low and protein high. Your experience may vary. My new best friends are Greek Yogurt, apples, packaged broccoli slaw (for extra fiber in sandwich wraps and salads) and hummus.

Mary Beth asked me in a comment what Dream Dinners is. It is a national franchise that provides frozen entrees. You make an appointment for a session together with your order then go in and assemble them yourself fresh or for a small fee they will put them together for you and you pick them up. You can make adjustments to fit special dietary needs. The orders come in either 3 or 6 serving sizes. I found most of the 3 size portions worked for us so El Jefe ate 2/3 and I ate 1/3. Nutritional information is available online so I work out the WW points and that guides my orders. The food is pretty healthy on the whole so I find enough suitable items for my diet each month. I spend much less at the grocery store  because I'm not buying as much meat when I shop and the DD prices are quite reasonable. I'm very lucky to have a DD store very close to where we live. 

This is a HUGE help for me because I use the dinners two to three times a week and that frees me from having to plan meals and think about food every night. Portion control is the key to diet success and the DD portions for the WW-friendly items are perfect. I do enjoy cooking but find I am more tempted to stray from the diet path when I have to think about it constantly. And, for me, it is important not to eat out frequently although over the last 11 months I have gained more control over the impulse to indulge when we're at a restaurant.

Shedding those pounds also means shedding the old "fat" clothes, which is a great motivation to stay on the plan. More about that in the next installment.

BSD Blogging: Allegorical Interpretation of the Gates

The Eastern Gate of Jerusalem

A number of years ago I took a course in Biblical Interpretation through the Austin Seminary extension program in Houston. The course covered different approaches to the interpretation of the Bible that students would encounter as they consult commentaries and interpretive works of different Christian authors.

One of the approaches is allegorical interpretation which seeks to find deeper spiritual truths by identifying symbolic meanings in the Biblical texts. It is an ancient method that began with   the early church theologian and write Origen of Alexandria. An example of this is interpreting Aaron, the first High Priest in the Old Testament, as a symbol of Jesus Christ, the spiritual High Priest. The Bible does contain allegories that are clearly identified in context (see Paul's interpretation of Hagar and Sarah in Gal. 4: 21-24). The allegorical method of interpretation can be controversial when it stretches a bit too far and/or when it ignores the context of the verses in the larger text. 

Which brings me to the symbolic meaning of the names of the gates of Jerusalem as described in Nehemiah 2: 11-20. There are as many interpretations as there are people who have offered them as you will see if you look for this on google! 

The gate names all have literal meanings of course. The sheep gate is where the shepherds brought the sheep into the city for market; the fish gate is where the fishermen from the Sea of Galilee brought their catch of the day for sale; the Horse gate admitted the horses; the Dung Gate was where the city's refuse was dumped and so forth. 

Some common allegorical meanings often ascribed to the gates are:

Sheep Gate =Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd
Fish Gate ="fishing" for men
Fountain Gate and the Water Gate =the fountain of Living Water (the Holy Spirit)
Horse Gate=spiritual warfare (horses were used in warfare)
East Gate = place where the Messiah will return (taken from Zec. 14: 4 which says the Messiah will return on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem)
Dung Gate = sin which smells bad and causes decay

Some interpreters also find in the order in which the gates were repaired an allegory of the life of faith in Christ and the shape of the wall and the gates is compared to a heart or a footprint both of which allude to Christ's presence.

Generally I favor the "plain meaning of the text" school of Biblical interpretation, but sometimes looking for allegorical meanings can deepen the power of the Word and our understanding of it. 

Cutting Myself Down to Size--Part One

I usually shy away from blogging about personal stuff, but I'm going to make an exception by special request. Robin Craig--you asked for it, so this is for you! And also for Julie Craig, who is now traveling this same path using a different approach that is working for her. Keep up the great work, Jules!

As of today I am 60 pounds lighter than I was last November. That's when I joined Weight Watchers Online and began to cut myself down to size. I've done WW and similar programs before--in fact I lost 70 pounds after having my two daughters. As any of you who have also battled your weight know, the biggest challenge is not losing the weight but keeping it off. I've had a couple of epic FAILS in that area, so my challenge now is not to FAIL maintenance again.

Looking back now, I can't explain exactly why it all finally "clicked" for me. I meant to loose the weight before our trip to Israel last year knowing that there would be a lot of walking which would be much easier for me (and my bum left knee) with less weight. But I didn't do it then and certainly regretted it!

I owe my success to date to the unflagging support of my husband and family, Weight Watchers and Dream Dinners. 

El Jefe, who has never had a weight problem and loves dessert, never complained when I quit baking and instead gave him pies and cakes from the grocery bakery. He was always agreed to eat out where I could order food that fit my program, and encourages me to buy new clothes to fit my new figure! And sixty pounds later, that means a whole new wardrobe.

Daughter Babs who gained weight in college then lost it and has kept it off was a consistent cheerleader who suggested recipes and tips for eating out that really helped, too. She took me shopping and made me try on styles I would never have considered before but love now. Daughter Portia was either losing pregnancy weight or pregnant again and so was a very supportive fellow traveler on the diet path. 

It would be much more difficult to stay on the program without this kind of helpful support and accountability. I'm not as forthcoming as Julie who announced her intentions on her blog at the beginning as a way of keeping herself accountable. Setting up an external check like this is a key to success, whether you do it privately with family and friends or publicly on Facebook and Blogger. Whenever I kept my resolution to diet to myself, I went off the program very quickly.

Now that I've started blogging about this, I see it will take several posts since even interested Gentle Readers won't follow something too long. Stay tuned for more, if you're interested.

But next--back to our regularly scheduled BSD Blogging.

BSD Blogging: Lecture--A Burden for the Work of Rebuilding

Here's a link to the podcast of my BSD lecture yesterday on Lesson 3: A Burden of the Work of Rebuilding which covers Nehemiah 2: 1-10. This is from the MDPC website.
http://www.mdpc2.org/cms/images/stories/audio/bsd/bsd_2012_2013/2012_10_04_bsd.mp3

BSD Blogging: Of Rabbit Trails and Red Herrings

This week's lesson covers Nehemiah 2:1-10. Since I'm giving the lecture tomorrow I don't want to repeat it here, so instead l'm going to hop down the bunny trail chasing some elusive red herrings, to share some background speculation developed in the course of my preparation for tomorrow.

Nehemiah identifies himself at the end of chapter 1 as the cupbearer to the King. This position was given only to someone whose loyalty was unquestioned. Artaxerxes' father, Xerxes, had been murdered by the captain of his personal bodyguard so Artaxerxes was painfully aware of the potential for treachery in those who were closest to him.

Interestingly, Nehemiah is not Persian but a descendant of Jewish exiles. On the principle "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" the Kings of Babylon and Persia placed members of prominent Jewish families in their court so they could keep an eye on them, insure their loyalty and take advantage of their skills. 

Four months passed between the events in chapter 1, which took place at Susa, and Nehemiah's conversation with King Artaxerxes in chapter 2. They were probably not in Susa, which was the winter palace. Courts moved around frequently to take advantage of better weather (too hot in Susa in the spring and summer!) and to reinforce their control over different parts of the empire. 

There may have been more than one cupbearer. If so, its possible that Nehemiah did not have a chance to serve the king personally until this encounter. On the other hand maybe he was in the king's presence consistently but sensed (a holy nudge?) that this was the time to invite the king to speak to him by showing sadness. Certainly you did not speak to the king unless spoken to so Nehemiah had to wait for the king to recognize him before he could make his request.

Some commentators have noted that the queen was present at the time of this conversation and speculated that her presence was helpful to Nehemiah and showed that he had a trusted relationship with her as well which would make it a good time to have this discussion with the king. Persian queens had a good deal of influence so she could have been helpful, but scripture doesn't tell us that.

In my research I found speculation that Nehemiah was a eunuch because extra-biblical sources indicate that was required for any male servant who had interaction with the wives and female relatives of the ruler. Nehemiah doesn't mention any family in his memoirs so that could be possible since it was almost unheard of for Jewish males not to marry. 


These are some interesting rabbit trails and possible red herrings. But tomorrow I'm going to focus on the two-fold call of God: to faith and service and to a particular task. See you then!

Book Review: The Treble Wore Trouble by Mark Schweizer

Calling all Liturgical Mysteries fans!

The latest book in the series, The Treble Wore Trouble, is now available!

This is a quasi-review because I haven't finished it yet.
Gentle and frequent readers know that I always pace myself slowly through Mark Schweizer's stories because I can't stand to finish them and not have another one available to read.

But so far this one is a hoot--it's Lent in St. Germaine and the new rector of St. Barnabus church wants to introduce a "blended service" which tempts our hero Hayden Koenig almost beyond endurance to break his Lenten vow of giving up liturgical snarkiness for lent. Of course there is a mysterious death for Hayden to investigate as well.

Best line so far: " My eyes went as crazy as Michelle Backman and Rick Perry's love child."

Oh, yeah.