The Book of Ezra

I thought time in quarantine would allow me moments of quiet reflection, new creative projects, and the ability to find myself, but instead I seem to be lost. The anxious energy of the world is such that it has penetrated not only my home but my peaceful mind and spirit. The darkness has sought out and found all but one small flickering, spiritual light in me. And it is with this last bit that I am writing to you.

Ezra appears in Chapter 7 of 10 of his own book, the book of Ezra. His greatest dilemma seems to be ridding God’s holy nation of “pestilence”, the intermarriage of God’s holy people with pagans. But if we take out the human factor, (because we ought to love our neighbors, and I won’t get into Ezra’s mindset here) and look at this with allegory in mind, as we too are fighting a plague, these few chapters teach us that we must rid ourselves of all that separates us from God or may influence our retreat from our deep knowledge of His existence. We are indeed living a nightmare. I feel like I’ve been fighting and clawing my way back to God and to hope and to light. And I feel this fire in my heart, like anger, and a yearning to take up arms against evil and death, if only in prayer, to defeat, with my own will and diligence, this darkness that seems insistent to take God’s hope away from me. The darkness is taking over my creativity, my bright, colorful mind, and the bright, colorful people of this earth. Though I have not failed to notice the earth, in this northern hemisphere, is very much alive with hope and new life right now, I will pray for hope’s revival in the hearts and minds of the people. I will weep and pray like Ezra for the resurrection of peace. And I will rebuild my own temple of light, brick by brick, with the hope that its light will be a beacon to those who may need it.

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