Bits for Sunday, July 13, 2008

I’m working on a Bible study. Not as in studying one…as in writing one. I love to write Bible studies…mostly because it gives me a good reason to get completely lost in the research without feeling guilty about what I’m not doing in the realm of housework. One chapter takes me probably an average of eight hours to write from start to finish. I usually do the research (hour or two) in one session and all the writing in another.

Yesterday was writing day. I hunkered down at the computer and completely missed the hunkering of the sun in the sky until I emerged from the office for food and discovered a dark house and a dark sky outside. Woops.

This study that I’m working on is sometimes easy and sometimes intimidating. I’m writing about some of the lesser known women of the Bible…and some are so lesser known that there’s very little to study about them. Yesterday’s woman has a grand total of one verse written about her. One verse. And from one verse, I was determined to pull an entire chapter. (They don’t call me Motor Mouth for nothin’.)

But I wrote something that struck me as profound. Not because I wrote it…but because it was one of those undiscovered (or perhaps underdiscovered…I’m sure someone before me noticed it) treasures of the Bible.

The woman is Damaris.

Who?

Damaris. Try Acts 17:34. You’ll find her.

Side note for just a minute…I was first introduced to Damaris’ presence in the Bible through a novel Janette Oke wrote about seventeen years ago. The book, A Woman Named Damaris was about a teenager who knew nothing of the Bible except that her name had come from it. In time, she was given a copy of the Bible and began to read through, looking for her name as she went. Long (and good!) story short, she was very disappointed to find that Damaris was one of those hidden women. She didn’t do anything spectacular, she didn’t have an amazing story, and she was only mentioned in one verse!

As I researched my one verse in preparation to write, I looked up the meaning of her name. Know what it means? “A heifer.” Good thing the character didn’t find out that tidbit! That would have crushed her last bit of hope! Poor Damaris…a heifer! But back in Bible times, horses and heifers were held in a higher esteem than we hold them today, so it might not be as bad as it sounds. (Trust me, if Damaris were driving down the bypass in front of me, going five under the limit, I might call her a heifer, but I can promise it wouldn’t be a compliment!)

Anyway, back to the point of my story. Damaris the character in Janette’s novel was informed that while Damaris of the Bible may not have done something particularly heroic or story-worthy, she did do the most important thing any woman (or man) could ever do: she believed.

The lone verse about her says, “A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris and a number of others.”

But I noticed this yesterday as I studied the entire chapter that ends with Damaris’ verse:

When Paul preached in Thessalonica, it says “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women” (V. 4). When Paul preached in Berea, it says, “Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men” (V. 12). But when Paul preached in Athens, and verse 34 declared a similar generality, one particular woman emerged from the “number of women.” Damaris. Out of all the women who believed in those three cities, Damaris is the only one to be mentioned by name.

Why?
What about Damaris’ life made her so special that she would be mentioned by name and no other woman in three cities was given the same honor?

It’s a matter of perspective. Sure, much of her life remains a mystery. Sure, she received very little publicity in comparison to the Mary’s and Sarah’s of the Bible. But she was recognized. When no one else was mentioned, Damaris stood out from the rest.

And I loved uncovering that truth. I would imagine I’m not the only one out there to sometimes wonder why this life or that around me seems more important and successful than mine. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not seen by God. It doesn’t mean that I’m not standing out to Him in ways I perhaps can’t even begin to see from my vantage point.

It’s just one little part of the whole study. But it’s a part that meant a lot to me this weekend, so I wanted to pass it on to you.