Our Young Adult Bible Study [what some people call YABS] is now reading the book Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. The author is the wife of Jim Elliot, one of the missionaries killed in the jungles of Ecuador trying to reach the natives with the Gospel. I don't know much about their story except for having seen the film "End of the Spear". However, even with my limited knowledge, I know that these people have been stretched and challenged in unimaginable ways and are faithful followers of God. Therefore, we definitely have something to learn from them.
Neways, as of today our group moved to a new location, Panera bread in Yorktown Heights. It just down the road from our church and is a very spacious and cozy place to meet and even grab food or beverages should we need it...especially the caffeinated kind! [I ordered a Caffe Mocha tonight that was absolutely delicious...even though it had me going to restroom every hour ;p]
Ok, so our group is all girls. We are all single women in our 20's, not to mention Christian. [I'm sure a bunch of ideas come to mind when people hear this...I'm going to ignore that right now] My thought was that we should take advantage of all female group and explore the position and challenges Christian women of the 21st century face in today's society in romance, dating, marriage and generally everything relating to love.
My sister has been recommending me to read this book since she finished it...so about 7yrs or so... ;p
As I began reading, I took every statement and story with a grain of salt, skeptical of how well I'd relate to the writer...to her experiences. However, when the Bible says that there is nothing new under the sun...it's really such a true story. Even though she is talking about her experiences over 50 years ago...the same confusion, insecurities, questions, nerves, excitement, humor, etc...it's all there! There were no cell phones, computers, email, texting, facebook...but men were still as clueless as ever and women over-thinking and analyzing every single word or action in the same way we always do. Elliot makes the point that even though times have changed, Christian principles have not. Marriage is still a holy, honorable, and beautiful institution created by God. Truth is True, yesterday, today and tomorrow!
The chapters have started to address our desires...emotionally, intellectually, and physically. What do we want? What does God want? Do we want what God wants? Really? Does God want us to be happy? Why do somethings work out and other things fall apart?
There a big questions to be asked here...and it's really easy to give the "textbook" answers...like prayer and/or faith. However, living it out is a completely different story...the more interesting story...the real story.
The biggest thing this book is supposed to address is our purity aka. our virginity...I tend to think of it as the thing that differentiates us from animals and wild beasts ;p. We live in a society that celebrates the vulgar and perverse and criticizes those who choose to preserve the sanctity of sex for their future husband/wife, calling them weird, old fashioned, or "losers". I am interested in what kind of advice, encouragement, and perspective Elisabeth Elliot will offer.
So cheers to our Wednesday night bible study! 7pm at Panera! =)