The main theme of this week’s lesson is “God is all”. On a practical level, it’s possible to render the lesson’s opening scriptures thus:
“[My consciousness of the allness of God] hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, … hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61)
“…[David’s understanding of Allness] delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.” (2 Samuel 22)
Such scriptures remind me of Queen Esther: when she and all her people were faced with seemingly inevitable annihilation, she learned to discipline herself — her imaginative faculty — not to gaze despairingly at objective reality (that is, the testimony of the physical senses) but rather to dismiss it altogether by supplanting it, holding to a view of a world flooded with the allness of God in faith and limitless hope.
Chapter 5 of the Book of Esther depicts her transformation from prostrate victim to victor standing tall and resolute: “Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house.”
The name “Esther” means “hidden” or “concealed”. Closeted in prayer, Esther firmly held on to her subjective realization of victory. In so doing, she lay bare the false notion of objective reality, exposed it as a lie, no longer able to conceal itself.
Thus did nothingness flee before Allness and its infinite manifestation.
What had appeared to be such an impossible dream was now objectified: Esther’s desire for the salvation of her nation was fulfilled. And the threat against her nation, which had appeared to be so harsh an objective reality, now vanished as a bad dream from which the sleeper awakens.