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Work in progress, a lament.  The bright glare is from the underpainting of gold paint.

Myrtle Tree

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I recently wrote in letter form the story of our daughter Hadassah’s birth and how she got her name as she was the Star Student in her 2nd grade class.  I won’t share all the details, but I have continued to meditate not only on my daughter’s life but also the story of Hadassah in light of the Advent season and the coming celebration of the Incarnation.  Below are my brief thoughts about it from that letter edited a bit for this post:

Hadassah was Esther’s Hebrew name.  In the book bearing her Persion name it says, “He (Modecai) was bringing up Hadassah…”  That’s the only place where her Hebrew name is mentioned.  Now most folks know that Esther means “star” but not as many know that Hadassah means “myrtle tree.”  Which kinda sounds funny when you first hear it doesn’t it?  So when the name came to us, my wife and I wanted to learn more about what it meant and so I discovered that the hadas or myrtle is used all over the place in Jewish communities to this day.  It is used commonly in weddings, during the festival of booths, and mentioned in many other stories in the Bible.  In a nutshell, “Hadassah” symbolizes redemption, restoration, healing. 

But I’ve always been curious as to the infrequency of Esther’s Hebrew name.  Why did the woman in the story of Esther have two names?  Well, stars are great things…I like them a lot.  In fact, most of us would rather be a star.  But for some reason the author wanted to make sure we knew (through this stark infrequency) that redemption came from a God who is near to us, not far out in outer space (although God is there, too).  That’s a comforting thought.

A simple concept that we do well to consider during Advent.  The God of our redemption is near.  Come thou long expected one…

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“Make connections; let rip; and dance where you can.”
— Annie Dillard

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“The secret of seeing is, then, the pearl of great price. If I thought he could teach me to find it and keep it forever I would stagger barefoot across a hundred deserts after any lunatic at all. But although the pearl may be found, it may not be sought. The literature of illumination reveals this above all: although it comes to those who wait for it, it is always, even to the most practiced and adept, a gift and a total surprise. I return from one walk knowing where the killdeer nests in the field by the creek and the hour the laurel blooms. I return from the same walk a day later scarcely knowing my own name. Litanies hum in my ears; my tongue flaps in my mouth Ailinon, alleluia! I cannot cause light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam.”
— Annie Dillard “Seeing” from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

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“Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands and the mouth.”
— Lanza Del Vasto

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“The Bible’s aim, as I read it, is not the freeing of the spirit from the world. It is the handbook of their interaction.”
— Wendell Berry

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“If there is a secret to getting involved with God through the pages of scripture, then perhaps it is this: turn the pages slowly.”
— Ellen F. Davis, Getting Involved with God (from her introduction)

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“We sit down before the picture in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it. The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way.”
— From C.S. Lewis, “An Experiment in Criticism”