“Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.” – Esther 6:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 15, 2017): Esther 6

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil.” The words belong to Sophocles from his play “Antigone.” They speak of something that we universally understand. We all have, at some time or another, been wrong. And there is nothing negative about our error. I continue to be convinced that we are not wrong enough – we don’t make enough mistakes. Someone who is never wrong is also someone who never takes chances. And as a result, they never make as great a difference in this world as perhaps they could. The error and the sin occur when we refuse to change our path even though we know that we are wrong. This is the problem that I have with groups of people who insist on digging up the past and want us to believe that the things that we said years, or even months, ago, is what we still believe. That attitude leaves no room for us to grow and change, and repair any wrong that has been committed. Life is too short to hold grudges and too long to believe that we will never follow a path for which we will have to repent later. This is the truth of life.

Haman’s problem was not that he had followed a wrong path. His fight with Mordecai, in the beginning, might have been on solid ground – an honest difference of opinion. Haman’s struggle was that he refused to change the path and recognize that he was wrong. Haman could never learn from his mistakes, and he could never understand the good that might exist in Mordecai. He was obsessed with his own sense of self-importance. Because of his pride, and his refusal to see the good in Mordecai, this becomes the worst moment in Haman’s life. Instead of cheering the value and difference that Mordecai had made to the Kingdom, all Haman can do is mourn that his enemy has found favor with the king. Even now, there might be a chance for Haman to repent of his actions and repair the evil of which he has had a part. But Haman can’t make that change.

Real success in life means that we have to learn to cheer each other’s accomplishments. We need to be able to bring honor where honor is due. In doing so, we become people worthy of honor. Our inability to bring honor where it is deserved makes us disciples of Haman – and that inability can only lead to our downfall and death.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Esther 7