Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Summer Book Club! The Well, Part 7...

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well today. We had a longer swatch of our book to read today (chapters 25-29), and Great Googly Moogly did it pack a punch! This is our penultimate week, and it was certainly a doozy. Grab your tea cup!

Soooo, a lot happened this week. :0 I'm going to mention the things that stood out to me, but I'm certain that not everything will come to me right away, since there was so much going on in these five chapters. But here goes: Shem and Mara are trapped in that creepy guy's (Silas? We'll go with Silas) fancy house. Mara is very uncomfortable with the way she is dressed and made up by the female servants in the house. For the first time, her hair isn't wild and tangled, and she has make up on her face, and both Silas and Shem take notice. Shem, though, is a gentleman, and thus is discreet in his admiration and is in Protection Mode to keep Mara safe. Silas, on the other hand, is still lecherous, and grows more so as he drinks. Everyone settles into dinner, and Mara is hurt by Shem's attempt to be dismissive and rude to her in a ploy to throw Silas off their plan.

As the dinner wears on, it becomes clear to Shem that Silas plans to get Mara drunk, take advantage of her, and then dispose of her. In order to do so, he most likely plans to dispose of Shem as well. Mara and Shem end up improvising a scheme of Mara getting sick to get them out of dinner and away from Silas.  Back in her room, Shem wants to escape, but Mara is too exhausted to travel. He decides they can sleep for a short spell before making their move, but when Mara is startled awake, she peeks outside to see Silas leading two Roman soldiers into the house. Not surprisingly, he has sold Shem out.

Shem and Mara make a hasty getaway out the window. They have a perilous journey over to the sea of Galilee, where they meet up with Zebedee, a friend of Shem's dad. He helps them out and finally gets them to Jesus. There, Mara has a Moment, and then runs away.

*long suffering sigh*

She now feels unworthy to talk to Jesus. Jesus seeks out Shem, and their conversation makes Shem all the more skeptical. Apparently, Jesus tells him that Shem will be the first of many, and that his name is now Stephen.

Am I the only one with a terrible sense of foreboding here?!

😱😰😱

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Jesus also gives Shem a message to relay to his mother, Mary. *sniffle* Zebedee aids them back to Nazareth so that they can see Mary, and I just LOVED this part. I loved that we got to visit with her. *heart* Mara asks Shem why the soldiers are after him, and he finally tells her. Interiorly, Shem comes to the conclusion that if he survives, he wants to live in Sychar permanently, working in his grandfather's olive grove, and marry Mara. At this point, they have no idea if Nava is still alive or not, and Shem knows that he loves Mara, and wants to provide for her and Asher.

After visiting with Mary, Mara has a change of heart. She wants to try and find Jesus again, who is now traveling towards Jerusalem. She has a feeling deep within her heart that Shem should accept Jesus's invitation to follow him. Although Shem doesn't agree, he does want Mara to have another chance to ask Jesus to heal Nava. They head on their way.

Oh boy. I just...these chapters really grabbed me. Does this mean that Shem is St. Stephen?! And does this mean that maybe Mara will end up with somebody else? Enosh, like Melanie mentioned? God forbid, the guy who seems to kill all of his young wives?!

GOOD GOLLY. Next week is our last week, and that will take us through Chapter 33 plus the Epilogue. We'll be discussing next Wednesday! *heart in throat*

8 comments:

  1. Wow, these were some action-packed chapters. All along I've been assuming Mara and Shem would wind up together, but after the Stephen bombshell I'm not so sure anymore. If it is Enosh, he seems like a good person who would put Mara and her family first, unlike so many others in Sychar. Loved the Mary scene! I think it's fitting that Mara's visit with her inspired this change of heart and once again got her moving towards Jesus. I'm definitely excited to keep reading, but a bit sad too that we are so close to the end.

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    1. Kevin, right?! That was a shocker, on so many levels. Did not see that coming. And I agree about the book coming to an end - I'm sad! But more great book clubs to come, so stay tuned!

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  2. These chapters kept me on my toes with all the action but the biggest part was finding out that Shem is apparently St. Stephen. This is not where I was expecting the story to go and I'm now hoping for Mara to marry Enosh. I must point out though that I wasn't the first to suggest the two them. That was Deltaflute during part 3. I like that the author weaves other biblical characters into the story. It creates a fuller picture when I am reminded of other gospel stories. This week we got Zebedee, the father of James and John, the 10 lepers, and Mary. Looking forward to seeing how this book ends and yet with all good books would like it to last a little longer. If Shem goes to Jerusalem and is supposed to meet up with Joseph of Arimathea will he have a cameo in The Thief?

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    1. Hi Melanie,

      I enjoy the broader Biblical worldview as well. It really makes the scene rich and poignant. *Excellent* point about Shem in The Thief. Gosh, that would be so hard. *sobs!*

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  3. It was so interesting how she weaved all those Biblical characters into one. It makes me wonder if Longinus, the Roman solider, will also fit into her future stories. Really enjoy seeing the sense of confusion Shem feels over what Jesus said to him. I completely understand that. Sometimes Jesus asks us to do something and we are like NOOOOOOOO!!!! Our faith is so small sometimes.

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    1. I completely agree. I really relate to Shem's struggles in this situation! And Longinus, I would guess so. I thought the same thing!

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  4. Every time I think I have the story figured out there is a twist I wasn't expecting! This set of chapters was def. action packed. And part of me is like if this was today they'd know if Nava was still alive. HA. I'm dying to know what is going on back in Sychar. I'm almost done with the book...a month later lol

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    1. That's ok! That's the nice part of an online book club, you can work along at your own pace. ;-)

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