How Solomon's daughter found her husband.
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
King Solomon's favorite daughter was of mysterious origin. She had no mother in the court, and some say she was the daughter of the Queen of
Solomon read the stars each night, and much of the future revealed itself to him clearly. To his dismay, the stars told him that his beloved princess would marry a poverty-stricken young man. The circumstances were not made clear, and in his desperation to change fate he decided to hide the princess in a faraway retreat. He explained the circumstances to the princess, and she trusted her father and consented to follow his plan.
This Midrashic legend goes on to explain how Solomon attempted, and failed, to prevent his daughter's union with this poverty-stricken young man. He tried to protect her from the world, and God's plan, by pulling a Rapunzel act...minus the long hair, witches, or Flynn Ryder. Needless to say, Solomon's plan didn't work and God's plan came to pass though Solomon did have the good grace to admit he was wrong and blessed his daughter's new marriage.
When my eldest daughter suggested the name "Solomon's Daughters" for my new blog I was very intrigued but not sure if others had already used the idea. So I did what any woman these days does, I Google'd it. (I also Bing'd it but I am not sure that Bing has merited its own verb yet.) This Jewish legend is what I found. While I may not be Jewish I thought the comparison between my goal for this blog and the story was wonderful. My greatest hope is that this blog will give more moms the tools to talk with their daughters about how faith in Christ is very much a part of their daily walk. I hope that we are able to discuss and develop a plan together on how to give our daughters the tools they need to discern what seems good in the world and what is good.
I think we need to be purposeful in reaching our daughters' hearts. The world would love to have them believe that parents just don't understand them. The world is fighting to influence our daughters and silence us. If we don't have a goal in mind the world will be happy to supply its own. I know better than to think that I get it right most of the time with my own daughters, but I have come to a point where I am comfortable discussing my mistakes just as much as my successes. I didn't set out on this path with the goal of getting noticed, starting a blog, or anything that puts me out there for the world to critique. But this is the path that God is calling me to and here I am.
I have been influenced by many great writers in my journey as a mom. I plan to talk about some of those books that I think are relevant to our topic. I really don't feel comfortable with "church speak" and try to avoid what I see as clichés that have lost their meaning to anyone who wasn't raised in the church. Well, I at least cringe on the few occasions that I can't avoid them. I also plan to outline better how we will address this topic of teaching wisdom to our daughters. I wish we could all just sit around and have a big discussion on this, but I will have to settle for a virtual version instead.
I hope you feel comfortable leaving comments and asking questions. Enjoy the ride. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment