The doomsday death grip

When I tell people my dog’s name is Mordecai, I usually get one of several reactions..

either “wait… like from the cartoon network show?”

Which fair. Great show. If you’re a stoner lol (jk). But no, unfortunately I don’t enjoy grass enough to name my dog after a cartoon. No shade if you love cartoons (or grass). I honestly wish I had the attention span to appreciate them.

Another one of favorites is, “is your dog Jewish?” lol

To which I reply, Yes. Obviously.

Also, he can smell your antisemitism from a mile away so take your conspiracies to Telegram where they belong.

But no, the real reason I named my dog Mordecai is not because he’s Jewish. (surprise) lol

It’s because I love the story of Esther.

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The story goes, if you’re not familiar..

A king, influenced by an evil man, signs a decree sealed with his signet ring to wipe out an entire group of people. Esther’s people. Due to the nature of it being sealed with this ring, the decision is cemented into time, unequivocally irreversible.

In this time and culture, there was no way to undo a decree issued in such a way. And to try to do so would be the equivalent to fighting fate.

And right in the middle of that is Esther. A common villager, raised by her uncle Mordecai, that ascends to Queen through an interesting turn of events.

Esther is now queen and a woman with influence. However, she is faced with the enormous risk of speaking up and telling the truth in a time where doing so could very well cost her her life.

Despite being queen, no one truly understands how bad things are like Esther does. She sees the writing on the wall and knows better than anyone there is no undoing the fate of her people.

And yet the coolest thing about Esther is that instead of accepting fate, she throws a party.

actually, she throws several parties.

She invites the king. And she invites the very man (Haman) who’s trying to kill her people.

I have no idea why she decided to go about it this way. They never covered that in Sunday school. But regardless, I love that her strategy at the end of the world is to throw a party.

Queen behavior. Wisdom behavior. Not-playing-by-the-rules-of-fear behavior.

She hosts multiple extravagant banquets. She gets close to the king. She builds favor. She creates space strategically, beautifully, and patiently until the moment she can speak with power and influence and change the course of history.

And then right in the middle of the last party, the king, a little drunk on the bliss goes, “Alright babe, whatever you want. I got you. You just let me know and it’s done.”

And Esther, the bad ass that she is, points right at Haman in front of everyone, and says "that Mfer right there. He is a traitor and a killer and the murderer of my people."

And on the spot, at the party, orders him hanged. All the while he’s on his knees at her feet begging for his life.

Haman, who planned the execution of her people, and to hang Esther’s uncle and father-figure, Mordecai, ends up on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai.

and Mordecai's spirit lives on to this day through my adorable boxer. JK. But I had to tie it all together. You get it.

Anyways, back to the story.

Esther and the king are faced with the dread of knowing the fate of her people still remains. "For a decree written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked."

The King then tells Esther, "the royal signet ring is yours. You may do with it as you please."

Esther, in her wisdom, takes the ring and issues another decree, signed with the same irreversible signet ring.

In it she states that her people are to fight to the death anyone who tries to lay a hand on them or their property. Essentially striking terror right back into the very hearts of anyone who would seek to destroy them. Esther in her bravery and her wisdom, effectively nullifies the initial decree. As it says, "great fear of them fell upon all the peoples."

It’s just an awesome story.

And it’s not just that she wins. It’s how she wins.

She doesn’t spend all her energy trying to undo what’s already been sealed. That’d be pointless. She doesn’t spiral about how unfair it is. She doesn’t freeze because the situation is essentially impossible.

She creates.

She looks at something that is final… and decides it isn’t. Not on her watch.

she’s a queen remembering who she is.

And she begins to see if an evil man can make a move like that. Then, from where she stands, with her mind, her presence, and her influence, she can make an even better one.

It reminds me of Alyssa Liu. Of Justin and The Strokes at Coachella. these soulful heart led acts of resistance. Of joy.

And I do believe fully that you, in your authenticity and truth, have the power to send a ripple effect through humanity that changes the course of history.

But don’t even do it to change the world . Do it because it’s what you were born for. 

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This is What It Means to Be a Creator

Sometimes the world feels like it’s going to shit. Well no, sometimes it actually is. Going to shit that is. lol

But what I love about Esther is she doesn't try to outmuscle the system. She out-witted it. She didn’t fixate on stopping the inevitable. She focused on building something more powerful alongside it. She essentially created the thing that would eventually envelope that which meant to destroy her and her people.

Fear is powerful, don't get me wrong. But it has never proven to be a match for Love.

Ultimately Esther saves her people because she decides to step up and step into everything she was born to be.

⸻

I think there is something in us that rises up when we hear a story like this. It’s a level of audacity, I think. 

The kind that says: Even if this is how things are… I’m still going to create something better. Even if that requires the death of everything that I am currently.

It’s when you decide the reality you’re currently in won’t be the end of the story.

⸻

So yes… My Dog’s Name is Mordecai

Because that story reminds me of something that I think is really important for our generation. 

The idea that:

“Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.”

Esther 4:14

And that even with our backs against the wall, there will always be room to create a better story.

And the only way we're going get to a place more beautiful on the other side of all this…

is if someone is bold enough to bring a more beautiful plan into the room.