Intro - Fill Ins

Megillah
Esther is a Diaspora story.
1. absence of any reference to God
It's part of God's Word
God's name may not be in it but it is on it
It offers tremendous hope
It extends a vital perspective on the providence of God
God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.
but also to those that seem both mundane and trivial
within creation that nothing happens by chance.
God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will
God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
2. The title bears a woman's name
It's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow.
3. The God-ordained emphasis on human responsibility
lays all the stress on the human contribution to the divine-human synergism.