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Dear Friends,
I am your conference moderator and pleased to be filling in for Tony’s regular weekly newsletter note while he is away. I am currently the pastor at Pilgrim UCC in Bozeman and feeling very grateful for some signs of spring around here!
Tonight, at sunset on March 12th , our Jewish siblings in faith will celebrate Purim (POOH – Rim), which is the story of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai saving the Jewish people from extermination by King Ahasuerus and his cruel advisor - the terrible Haman.
It is traditional in many Jewish communities to read the story of Esther, eat “hamantaschen” – triangular pastries with sweet jam or poppyseed filling in the triangular shape of Haman’s hat, and dress up in character costumes from the story (or otherwise). You also get to yell “BOOO!” as loud as you can when Haman’s name is mentioned in the reading of the story. Other traditions include fasting and giving to the poor, which may sound familiar in this Christian season of Lent.
Today, when I visited the Jewish congregation here in Bozeman for a meeting of the Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association, we were invited to shake noisemakers as part of the Purim traditions there. Of course there were yummy treats too. I must admit that today it is a relief to hear an old tale about good triumphing over evil, plain and simple.
One detail in the story of Esther has long stood out to me. When Queen Esther is trying to decide whether or not to ask King Ahasuerus to spare her people (and risking her own life by doing so) her cousin Mordecai sends her a message. The message includes this encouragement, “[Esther] Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
Could it be true that each of us have come here, to our churches and communities, in this complex time and place, “for just such a time as this,” too? I pray that each of us and our churches in the Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference of the UCC might listen and respond with courage to what we are called to in just such a time as this.
Peace be with you,
Rev. Laura Folkwein, Moderator
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