Dear Reader,
Many women from the Bible have inspired me; especially the ones whose names aren’t mentioned. I always wondered why the author never scripted their names and worst part, they are given titles like ‘the adulterous woman’, ‘widow of Zarephath’ and ‘little slave girl’. But it is beyond words how these insignificant women have taught me some significant lessons of life. I have read their stories over and over again—every time, it has been revelatory. In the course of 21 days, I covered 21 women from the Bible whose stories have touched me—this three-week journey was nothing less than amazing. I started this plan to help myself understand things and grow based on what I learn, but it got to a point where I had readers who would wait every evening for me to post the poem—talk about pressure! I firmly believe that poetry is one of the best ways to tell stories. Although it is a genre that was new to me, the writer in me rejoices every time I finish a piece. And, I can tell you for a fact that, it is not all about me or the way I write—Not by my might, but by the Spirit. I hope these poems would bless you and talk to you in a radically distinctive manner.
Keep Reading, Stay Blessed.
Love in Christ,
Oshin Grace Daniell,
Poet Author, Daughter of the King
POEM 1
Living on the edge
Dear Widow of Zarephath,
I am sorry that you are called a ‘widow’
I searched a lot, but your name I never saw,
And it’s okay, ‘cos even without a name you touched many,
How you lived on the edge even when you had nothing in plenty
A handful of flour and a little oil is all you had,
There was nothing left, your story was sad,
What were you thinking when Elijah extended his hand,
Asking for a piece of bread; he was a stranger from another land
He saw you gathering sticks to prepare your final meal,
I am not sure whether he thought about how you’d feel,
When he asked you to first prepare him some food,
And then feed your son and yourself—No logic, nothing good,
But your faith was not in Elijah, it was in the One inside him
So, you went and did exactly what he said although everything seemed dim,
I would have never had the courage to do what you did,
I would have just cooked a meal for myself and my kid
When your son was ill and stopped breathing,
Your heart was filled with grief,
You lost your reason for living,
I am not surprised you shouted at the prophet,
But where did that faith of yours go,
When you hit your low.
Sometimes, we all need to see a miracle,
To believe in an unseen God, otherwise we become critical,
But thank you for teaching me to walk on the edge of this world,
To be able to trust that God will provide, in His wings we’re furled,
You are a strong woman and you acted beyond your identity,
A woman of good courage, faith, hope and integrity
Love,
The rational woman
I always find it difficult to connect to a Biblical character without a name. Interestingly, the nameless characters are the ones who inspire me the most. The story about the widow and Elijah reminded me of an incident that happened to me when I was seven. I used to be a big fan of Kitkat (I still am), and my father had sent a box full of them in a goodie bag through his friend from Yemen—it was the first time he sent it. I was super excited to get a packet from a foreign land. Ah, the smell of foreign goods gave me such a thrill—’tis beyond words. I had told my mom that she could distribute all the other chocolates except Kitkat. It was like God giving instructions to Adam and Eve about the ‘Tree of knowledge of good and evil’. There were 30 pieces and my idea was to finish it in a span of two months (Yes, I was a very calculative kid!). And then one day, my cousin visited and she wanted to explore our refrigerator. She spotted the box of Kitkat and took the last five units that were left. Stupefied by her gesture, I stood there filled with anger. How could she do it?! How did my mom just stand there and watch her take them?! So, my mother, just like every other Christian mom quoted this verse, “Give and it will come back to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,”
And like a well-researched Sunday school kid, I said “When you give—Give to the Lord; she ain’t no god.” I still believed God would do a miracle so I did not take the empty box out of the refrigerator—I hoped that He would keep a Kitkat inside it every day ‘cos I was a good kid. It did not happen. Although I took time to recover from that, as I grew up, I took ‘giving’ very seriously. I would spend time, effort and money just to make someone happy. And if I really like the person—I would shower them with gifts, notes and small gestures that tell them that they mean a lot to me. Gifting was a way for me to overcome bitterness towards a person too. If I come to a point where I don’t like someone, I would trick my mind into giving them gifts so that I don’t reflect any sort of hate. Weird as it seems, it has helped me a couple of times but again let’s not forget the times when this has turned into something that affected my peace.
Don’t we all want to be in the good books of people? I always had this idea that you need to pay a price to keep people in your lives. I know it’s not just me, some of you must have done the same. Attention—Shake yourself and get this thought out of you. “Not everyone stays and no matter what you do if they have decided to leave, they will leave. Don’t bribe them into staying. LET THEM GO!” Feeling generous? Give to the ones who you think you’d never meet again or who can’t give you back anything! When God gave us His son for the redemption of our sins, He knew for a fact that we are incapable of reciprocating the love He has for us. Unconditional love—I am sure you’ve heard a lot about it. Well, unconditional love is when you can give with the knowledge that the receiver is not capable of reciprocating the gesture. Hard? YES, IT IS! When the widow gave her last morsel to Elijah, it was God’s love in her that made her do it. She could’ve said No and walked away but the fact that she was willing to share the last meal with a stranger, shows that she was a generous woman. She gave out of her nothingness. How many of us could do that?
On reading the story further, we see that she gets angry at the prophet when her son dies. Probably, this was the result of some sort of expectancy that developed after she saw the flour and oil miracle. You can’t blame her for it. Human—rationality takes over faith sometimes. We sometimes feel like we give so much and yet lose things and people who we think we deserve. I have struggled with this and there are days when I still do. But what matters the most is that when you give, you give with no expectation—even the last morsel.
P.S: The Kitkat miracle didn’t happen ‘cos God knew that I have family history of dental caries.