Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Esther, Who Helps Avert ‘The Calamity That is Coming to My People’)

“Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil design of Haman the Ag′agite and the plot which he had devised against the Jews. And the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, ‘If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Ag′agite, the son of Hammeda′tha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?’ Then King Ahasu-e′rus said to Queen Esther and to Mor′decai the Jew, ‘Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he would lay hands on the Jews. And you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.’”—Esther 8:3-8 (Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition)

Jews worldwide have found meaning and consolation for centuries in the story of how Esther, an orphan in a foreign land, saved her people by telling King Ahasu-e′rus of the genocidal intent of his evil minister, Haman.

But I have come to think that this tale can apply even more broadly—to refugees, displaced persons, immigrants—the persecuted and unwanted around the world (including in this country) who find themselves at the mercy of civil authorities who use them as scapegoats to distract from their own policy failures, whipping up dangerous resentments and injustice in the process.

One verse resonates especially in our time: “How can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”

The image accompanying this post, Banquet of Queen Esther, was created in 1660 by the Dutch painter, printmaker, and draughtsman Rembrandt (1606-1669).