Hope

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 152 of 216 · 20 per page

• From Macho Sluts (1988)

  So. Even if you buy what I have to say about the politics of this whole mess, do you want to take a chance on a book that may or may not accurately represent lesbian experience? First you probably ought to know that not all of the stories in this book are about woman-to-woman S/M. (And not all of my readers are dykes. Thank you for your letters, email, and easy care instructions.) There’s only one way to find out—that’s the same way that you had to find out what it would feel like to squeeze your hand between your thighs, or apply a dab of that lubricant, or switch on the vibrator. The same way you had to find out if spanking could really feel good or if being tied up was too scary to enjoy. You have to actually try it. Not every erotic experiment ends well. Crisco, for example, was a bad idea. Sheets that still smell like fried chicken. Yeast infections. Holes in gloves and condoms. Yuck. But I think most of us suffer from a lack of opportunity rather than too many temptations. Even the tricks who shouldn’t have spent the entire night in your bed or the dildo that broke were worthwhile attempts to have more fun, be daring, and enjoy your far-from-infinite span of days on this amazing planet. You can’t make an omelet without going down a few dead end streets. So you learn, perhaps, to stay home while you are ovulating and never go cruising in the Castro again. Are you more afraid that you won’t have any fun—or that you’ll be thrilled to pieces? Which is it? Be bold. Put yourself in my proverbial hands. I promise I won’t drop you. I’ve been a top for nearly three decades, and I still know my way around a bent psyche and a wet pussy. There’s no threat to your real life. It’s all just fiction, fantasy, flat black ink on a white page. But it could lead to touching— touching yourself, asking someone else to touch you, reaching for someone else’s skin and heart and mind. Whether you are a lesbian transgressing enough to listen to a transman with an extensive dyke history, or a gay man enjoying the guilty pleasure of lesbian lustmaking, or a straight person who doesn’t know which end is up, there’s something here for you. And if it is a good time—if you, perhaps, might be a Macho Slut yourself—you might even find yourself begging for more. Don’t worry. There is more. There’s always more. Introduction WENDY CHAPKIS

• From The Ice Storm (1994)

  It would be a cool place to be. The way the grounds sloped down toward the Silvermine River. Tonight would be a good night to ride the refectory trays, as she and Paul had once done, down the hills. The trick was to bail out before you slid into the water. The tray shot out from under you, like some kind of low- flying bird, sailing out onto the Silvermine. They had to cross out into the river, on stepping stones, to recover the trays. Truly, though, the security guys had caught them, had run down the hill after them, slipping and skidding in their polished uniform shoes, to grab Paul by the shoulder and roughly commandeer his sled. She had a way with the Silver Meadow security cops. Paul never did. —What’s he doing down there? —Looking for you, probably, Sandy said. With that he stood, measuring by eye the distance from the top of the closet. He raised his makeshift lynching apparatus toward its anchor. Standing on a modern and insubstantial hammock-style desk chair, he tied the end of the rope around a nail he had already pounded into the top of the closet frame. —This knot’s called a bowline, he said. He let the noose swing free now, and in the meager light of Sandy’s swivel desk lamp its shadow swung with it, its ominous double. —Mayday! Mayday! —Not gonna give him a chance to share any last words, huh? Wendy said. She pulled the tags again. —Get this message back to base! Back to base! To base! —Won’t do any good, Sandy said. I’ve tried everything. His tone was so woeful that Wendy was certain it was true. Disappointment about G. I. Joe with Lifelike Hair weighed heavily on Sandy Williams. —Mayday! Mayday! Get this message back to base! Sandy slid the chair back under the desk and stilled the noose, that awful pendulum. —Okay, bring the prisoner here, he said. —One more chance. She couldn’t let it go. Wendy climbed off the bed and carried G. I. Joe toward his executioner. —Girls are always sticking up for the criminal. But I’m afraid, Sandy said thoughtfully, it’s not gonna do any good. Wendy yanked the dog tag one last time. And behold: —Major, incoming copter! Joe said. —Far out! —It’s just chance, Sandy said. Maybe one time every fifty or so he says that, even though it’s usually a different one. Something about a medic. He folded his arms. Together they stood over the prone body of G. I. Joe with Lifelike Hair, now supine on the folded comforter at the foot of Sandy’s bed. Somehow the idea of trying him again, of going back to the well one more time, felt pointless to Wendy. She recognized a moment here in which she saw the machinations of chance in the universe, and she didn’t want to ruin it. Sandy was adorable in this light. He couldn’t wait.

• From Macho Sluts (1988)

  The following exchange took place during her testimony: Q. Let’s move from your non. fiction to your fiction. Perhaps you can tell, in a general way, first of all, the reason why you write the fiction that you do. A. I think that a great many of my motives for writing fiction are identical to my motives for writing non. fiction. It’s my belief that fiction can sometimes be even more useful as an educational tool than non. fiction. It’s easier to absorb. It’s more entertaining. It’s often more accessible. There are people who will read a work of fiction who wouldn’t necessarily pick up something that looks more like a textbook. And I think that fiction is also more effective in addressing issues of lesbian visibility and in correcting misperceptions that people might have about how lesbians and masochism functions within the lives of the real women who are members of that community. Q. To what extent does sexual arousal play a role in your motivation in writing a book such as Macho Sluts ? A. Because the work is sexually explicit, it would be ridiculous for me to claim that arousal is not one of the effects that I intended to have upon some readers, but it is by no means the only response that I expect readers to have to the work. I use sexuality in the fiction partly as a way to intrigue the readers and engage their attention. I also attempt, as a writer, to disturb. There are also parts of the work that I would expect to cause a reaction of anger or grief and, in that process of getting the reader very deeply, emotionally engaged with the fiction, I hope to encourage them to think about some of the ideas that are in those pieces. Q. Why the emphasis on the sexual explicitness in your work? A. Well, it’s partly because I think that if you cannot find any fiction that describes people who are like you, people who have the kind of relationships you would like to have, people that have the kind of sexuality you would like to have, you begin to feel as if you’re crazy. You don’t exist. You’re marginal, you’re not important, and it creates a great deal of self. hatred and self. doubt. It also creates, I think, a lot of repression and just human misery. So partly the fiction is written in an attempt to make it easier for others, [for] … women who are sado-masochists, to come to terms with their sexuality and self. acceptance; given … what ignorance there is about my sexuality, it would be very difficult to write a book of fiction about women who were lesbian and were masochists without including some material about their sexuality. I took Pat through each of the stories in the book so that the Court would understand the book through the eyes of the author. Here is what transpired: Q.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Before aught else she studied to see Bertrand and next, presenting herself before the king, she prayed him of his favour to show her his ailment. The king, seeing her a fair and engaging damsel, knew not how to deny her and showed her that which ailed him. Whenas she saw it, she was certified incontinent that she could heal it and accordingly said, 'My lord, an it please you, I hope in God to make you whole of this your infirmity in eight days' time, without annoy or fatigue on your part.' The king scoffed in himself at her words, saying, 'That which the best physicians in the world have availed not neither known to do, how shall a young woman know?' Accordingly, he thanked her for her good will and answered that he was resolved no more to follow the counsel of physicians. Whereupon quoth the damsel, 'My lord, you make light of my skill, for that I am young and a woman; but I would have you bear in mind that I medicine not of mine own science, but with the aid of God and the science of Master Gerard de Narbonne, who was my father and a famous physician whilst he lived.' The king, hearing this, said in himself, 'It may be this woman is sent me of God; why should I not make proof of her knowledge, since she saith she will, without annoy of mine, cure me in little time?' Accordingly, being resolved to essay her, he said, 'Damsel, and if you cure us not, after causing us break our resolution, what will you have ensue to you therefor?' 'My lord,' answered she, 'set a guard upon me and if I cure you not within eight days, let burn me alive; but, if I cure you, what reward shall I have?' Quoth the king, 'You seem as yet unhusbanded; if you do this, we will marry you well and worshipfully.' 'My lord,' replied the young lady, 'I am well pleased that you should marry me, but I will have a husband such as I shall ask of you, excepting always any one of your sons or of the royal house.' He readily promised her that which she sought, whereupon she began her cure and in brief, before the term limited, she brought him back to health.

• From Girls & Sex (2016)

  “Affirmative consent” policies—versions of the one pioneered by Antioch—have once again become the hope for change. In 2014, California was the first state to pass a “yes means yes” law directed at colleges and universities receiving state funds. Rather than requiring an accuser to prove she said no, it demands that an alleged assailant prove that there was “an affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity.” In other words, that a clear, enthusiastic “you bet,” either verbally or through body language, was given. Consent may also be revoked anytime, and a person incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol is not legally able to give it. That’s a fundamental shift in power relations, and twelve years after the “Is It Date Rape?” SNL sketch, fewer people are laughing. New York passed affirmative consent legislation in 2015. New Hampshire, Maryland, and Colorado are all considering similar bills. Every Ivy League school except Harvard now has a version of “yes means yes” in place as well.

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  But he was learning to be patient. His plan stood intelligible to him, lucid as a vision. If asked, before the gulag, how a revelation might look, a heraldic blaze of light would have come to mind, the flap and gust of gale-force wind. His own dazzled, indisputable rip in the fabric of the usual. Instead, he had this: a plan. His chance. He lifted his face. Through linden branches, blue lozenges flashed like prizes he could reach up to have. His personal ambitions, though, no longer signified. He was thinking of mankind. In the months to come, when Phoebe asked about his first revelation, he’d explain it had arrived with a shock of recognition—yes, he’d thought. This was it. He’d been waiting. In fact, he said, to Phoebe, I felt like this when I first heard of you. 9.PHOEBEI collided into a truck, she’d have said. I’m trying to imagine it: Phoebe, sitting with the group again, legs pulled in. Posture like a ball, a full-bodied fist. The others in a circle, staring while she exposes her life. The truck driver broke his leg, Phoebe said. I wasn’t hurt. My mother absorbed all the impact. She bled to death before she could be taken to the hospital. I was still in high school, underage, so I had to go live in my father’s house. I hadn’t spent much time with him, growing up. My mother’s plan, once she left Seoul, was to raise me alone. But then, he followed us to the States, pleading to live with us again. She didn’t let him, at first. When she did relent, it was because she thought I’d benefit from having both parents around. Often, they fought; he turned violent, at times. I sat at the top of the stairs, one night, while they shouted. He punched her, and she fell. She didn’t get up, so I ran down. I thought she’d died. She wasn’t moving. I wanted to call for help, but he took a glass of water from the dinner table. He splashed it on her face until she woke up. Still, she kept trying. I was five before she asked me if I’d be all right if she left him again. If we left, she said. You and I. I said yes, let’s go. I picked sides at once. He stayed civil, though, when I had to move in with him. Polite, like a distant relative. He didn’t even ask if I wanted to come to his church. He might have believed I’d refuse. I noticed him crying, in the kitchen: I pretended I hadn’t. If he was grieving, I didn’t think he had the right.

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  Understanding the old testament 88 In the last verses of this book, hope is offered in the form of a somewhat forgotten character: King Jehoiachin, exiled back in 597 BCE. The book of 2 Kings 25:27–30 says that in his 36th year of exile: [The] King ...of Babylon, in the year he became king, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. He treated him with kindness and gave him a throne above those of other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin removed his prison garments, and for the rest of his life always ate at the king’s table. In other words, the royal family was still alive. There’s hope that the line of David will continue and perhaps Israel could return from exile. God’s promise to David that his dynasty will always rule over Jerusalem— seemingly thrown to the wind by the fall of the kingdom—may prove true, after all. Questions to Consider YIn the end, do the books of Kings look favorably upon Elijah? YWas the conquest of Judah inevitable, or were its kings just foolish to rebel? Suggested Reading Heller, Characters of Elijah and Elisha and the Deuteronomic Evaluation of Prophecy. Heschel, The Prophets. BIBLICAL SHORT STORIES: RUTH AND ESTHER LECTURE 14 This lecture looks at a specific genre of books in the Old Testament: short stories. Before that, the lecture provides some historical background. An Exile A large portion of the population of Judah was deported to Babylon after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. The Jews remained in Babylon for roughly the next 50 years, until 539 BCE. (Many stayed much longer.) They thrived as a minority group in a larger population. Additionally, the Babylonian captivity saw the forging of the Jewish religion. 14 Understanding the old testament 90 The central feature of Israelite religion prior to the exile was sacrifice of animals in the temple in Jerusalem. No temple would be built in Babylon. Still, a place where Jews gather to hear the scriptures, pray, and sing is called a synagogue. It is in the Babylonian exile that the word synagogue first appears, mentioned in the book of Ezekiel. Unfortunately, no synagogues have ever been found in ancient Iraq from this period, so it is impossible to be certain about this topic. The Exile

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  The house itself would need endless repairs, but its rooms were of careful and restful proportions. A fine room with a win- dow that opened on the garden, would be Stephen’s study; she could write theré in quiet; on the other side of the stone-paved hall was a smaller but comfortable salle 4 manger; while past the stone staircase a little round room in a turret would be Puddle’s particular sanctum. Above there were bedrooms enough and to spare; there was also the space for a couple of bathrooms. The day after Stephen had seen this house, she had written agreeing to purchase. Valérie rang up before leaving Paris to inquire how Stephen had liked the old house, and when she heard that she had actu- ally bought it, she expressed herself as being delighted. ‘We'll be quite close neighbours now,’ she remarked, ‘ but I’m not going to bother you until you evince, not even when I get back in the autumn. I know you'll be literally snowed under THE WELL OF LONELINESS 285 with workmen for months, you poor dear, I feel sorry for you. But when you can, do let me come and see you — meanwhile if I can help you at all. . . .” And she gave her address at St. Tropez. And now for the first time since leaving Morton, Stephen turned her mind to the making of a home. Through Brockett she found a young architect who seemed anxious to carry out all her instructions. He was one of those very rare architects who refrain from thrusting their views on their clients. So into the ancient, deserted house in the Rue Jacob streamed an army of workmen, and they hammered and scraped and raised clouds of dust from early morning, all day until evening — smoking harsh caporal as they joked or quarrelled or idled or spat or hummed snatches of song. And amazingly soon, wherever one trod one seemed to be treading on wet cement or on dry, gritty heaps of brick dust and rubble, so that Puddle would complain that she spoilt all her shoes, while Stephen would emerge with her neat blue serge shoulders quite grey, and with even her hair thickly powdered.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  This pleased the pilgrim and without concerning himself to say more to him, he exhorted him to be of good heart, for that, ere the ensuing day came to an end, he should without fail hear very certain news of his safety. Then, taking leave of him, he repaired to the Seignory and said privily to a gentleman who was in session there, 'My lord, every one should gladly labour to bring to light the truth of things, and especially those who hold such a room as this of yours, to the end that those may not suffer the penalty who have not committed the crime and that the guilty may be punished; that which may be brought about, to your honour and the bane of those who have merited it, I am come hither to you. As you know, you have rigorously proceeded against Aldobrandino Palermini and thinking you have found for truth that it was he who slew Tedaldo Elisei, are minded to condemn him; but this is most certainly false, as I doubt not to show you, ere midnight betide, by giving into your hands the murderers of the young man in question.' The worthy gentleman, who was in concern for Aldobrandino, willingly gave ear to the pilgrim's words and having conferred at large with him upon the matter, on his information, took the two innkeeper brothers and their servant, without resistance, in their first sleep. He would have put them to the question, to discover how the case stood; but they brooked it not and each first for himself, and after all together, openly confessed that it was they who had slain Tedaldo Elisei, knowing him not. Being questioned of the case, they said [that it was] for that he had given the wife of one of them sore annoy, what while they were abroad, and would fain have enforced her to do his will.

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  l e Ct Ure 6 | m oses and the e xod Us 35 Some scholars in the last century or so have taken the biblical text stating that God will strike the gods of Egypt—in Exodus 12:12 and Numbers 33:4—to mean that the plagues represent specific attacks on specific Egyptian gods. The Nile turning red is an assault on the god Hapi. The plague of frogs is an assault on the god Heket, and so on. The problem is that in order to make this work, one would have to appeal to rather obscure Egyptian gods—like Heket—that hardly anyone would’ve worshiped and make connections between gods and plagues that are weak. However, the theory does work for the last two plagues. The ninth plague is darkness, and the Egyptians worshiped the sun, so the ability to end the sunlight—in other words, directly assault the sun god—is fairly substantial. Then, the final plague is the death of the firstborn, especially Pharaoh’s. Pharaoh was a human version of Osiris, the Egyptian god of resurrection. Still, the other plagues do not match up with the Egyptian gods. The tendency to want to find naturalistic explanations that support literal historical reading of the text extends to how people read the crossing of the sea. Scholars in the 20th century invented a body of water called the Sea of Reeds. It doesn’t exist. If your Bible states in Exodus 15:4 that the Israelites crossed the Sea of Reeds, it has bought into this scholarly construct. The best Bible translations left it as Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt as fleeing slaves, and emerged from that sea as a people who could testify forever to God’s miraculous deliverance. The result of this deliverance was faith. Questions to Consider Y Why would anyone question a liberation reading of the Exodus, and are they right to do so? Y How can God hold Pharaoh responsible for “not letting Israel go” if God “hardens Pharaoh’s heart” so that he won’t let them go? Suggested Reading Huddlestun, “Red Sea.” Saner, “Too Much to Grasp.” 36 QUIZ 1 1. To sustain the structure of Genesis 1, the authors are forced to have birds created out of: a. the clouds b. the sea c. the fish d. the earth 2. Genesis 1 says humanity is made as the tselem of God, a word ordinarily meaning: a. an idol b. a wet clod c. a puff of smoke d. salami 3. In Eden, the humans are envisioned as: a. gardening b. sleeping c. playing with the animals d. reading Torah 4. In “sentencing” Adam for his sin, God curses: a. Adam b. Eve c. the ground d. himself

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  If you did jump, though. I used to preach that God holds us on a lightweight leash that will stretch to span the miles and years. We imagine ourselves free, but with a flick of His wrist He’ll bring us back to Him again. It takes less than I used to think from this hope of reunion that it’s not, from what I can tell, the truth. I think of the hours you spent in that Olympic pool. You’d turned so strong. Muscle-built. The Hudson, at Hoyt Bridge, isn’t wide. It might have been cold, but not past surviving. It would be such an artful ruse, Phoebe, if this is how you’ll elude pursuit: in having pretended to die. – The months flashed past, into a final Edwards term. I found a roommate, Bilal. He slept in the living room, behind a partition. I told Leigh I should stop wasting her time. Though I avoided the clinic site, I noticed an article about plans to build an office plaza. I thought, at times, I heard the distant drills, reveilles beating like a pulse. I wasn’t sleeping much, but I threw out the pills; I tried to drink less, living to prove I’d changed. I graduated, then I moved to Manhattan. I began a job, a full-time position at the previous summer’s hedge fund. One June morning, as I walked to the train station, I saw Julian. I was lost in thought; by the time I recognized him, he’d passed in front of me, his bulk constrained in a light suit, striding in the opposite direction. Julian, I said. I thought I saw him flinch, but he didn’t respond. He’d have kept walking if I hadn’t said it again, taking his arm. Julian, hello, I said, but the face he showed me might have been a stranger’s. He had on glasses. The reflected sunlight hid his eyes. He looked down at the hand I’d put on his arm, and I lifted it. I want nothing to do with you, he said. I know what you are, Will. I don’t understand. With his glasses leveled at me like lights, he said Phoebe had told him what I’d done. That girl, he said. She’d refused to listen to him. He’d urged Phoebe to go to the police, but she didn’t want to hurt me. In his frustration, he’d said things he regretted. They hadn’t talked since. She’d loved me. It made little sense to him, but she had. I’d given Phoebe the last push into Jejah. He hoped I realized that. Oh, he’d fantasized about exposing me, but at least I had to keep living in my own skin: a hell, he said, he’d wish upon no one else. –

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  Understanding the old testament 100 The End of the Book of Amos Amos does offer some hope. Some think the verses at the end of the book are a late addition put in by Jews in exile in Babylon, and that Amos himself didn’t offer any hope. However, these verses are consistent with the rest of the message of Amos. For instance, chapter 9, verse 13 reads: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed. The mountains shall drip sweet wine and the hills shall f low with it. ... I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted. This is consistent with Amos’s vision that paradise is bucolic. The blessings are the prosperity of plowing, reaping, wine, harvests and gardens. The blessings are not ivory, musical instruments, or veal. There is a distinct contrast between the values of Israel’s consumerists and God’s rural agricultural paradise that is consistent with what Amos thinks is important in life throughout the book. There is hope—although God’s hope might not be what the people expect. Questions to Consider YDid Amos and similar prophets want to end poverty in ancient Israel? YDoes Amos place any value on sacrifice and other rituals? Suggested Reading Eidevall, Amos. Ho, Ṣedeq and Ṣedaqah in the Hebrew Bible. THE PROPHET ISAIAH IN THREE MOVEMENTS LECTURE 16 The book of Isaiah has three distinct movements. Each one has a specific historical context. The book as a whole is one piece, intentionally woven together around 520 BCE. This lecture gives an overview of the book’s contents. An Important Time and the First Movement The book of Isaiah puts the prophet in Jerusalem at an important time. He’s there when the Assyrian Empire has conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians also overran most of the kingdom of Judah. King Hezekiah and the city of Jerusalem survived, and Isaiah is there for that event, as the book of Kings describes. This is roughly 720 to 700 BCE. Isaiah was in a high enough position to interact regularly with the king. 16 Understanding the old testament 102 Early in the book, Isaiah’s denunciations are primarily about social injustice. For instance, in chapter 5, he calls out individual owners gaining more and more land. Isaiah also calls out the masses, who didn’t know the law properly, and who didn’t know who God was so that they could emulate him. Isaiah says the punishment for such crimes will be exile. The book of Isaiah is not all bad news. An important notion emerges in Israelite religion in the early part of the book: the concept of the Messiah. King hezekiah and isaiah

• From Girls & Sex (2016)

  Will affirmative consent laws reduce campus assault? Will cases be more readily resolved? I can’t say. As Pollitt pointed out, adjudication in many instances will still be based on he said/she said, with accused assailants replacing “She didn’t say no” with “Dude, she said yes!” Among the students in the Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation poll, only 20 percent said the yes means yes standard was “very realistic” in practice, though an additional 49 percent considered it “somewhat realistic.” What “yes means yes” may do, though, especially if states aim solid curricular efforts at younger students, as California plans to, is create a desperately needed reframing of the public conversation away from the negative—away from viewing boys as exclusively aggressive and girls as exclusively vulnerable, away from the embattled and the acrimonious—and toward what healthy, consensual, mutual encounters between young people ought to look like. Maybe it will allow girls to consider what they want—what they really want—sexually, and at last give them license to communicate it; maybe it will allow boys to more readily listen. THAT WAS THE hope of a Bay Area nonprofit that invited me to observe a focus group of high schoolers convened on a November afternoon to discuss consent. The kids—two African American boys, two white boys, two white girls, a Latina, and an Asian girl—sprawled across couches in a borrowed living room, their conversation subtly guided by a twenty-something facilitator. Over the course of several hours, they wrestled with how alcohol-fueled hookups made “yes” feel like a moving target; with the social costs of saying a direct “no”; with the awkwardness of intervening when a drunk friend was hurtling toward regret; with how they negotiated, or didn’t, consent in their long-term relationships. They talked about assault, too. Two of the girls had experienced some form of violation; another was trying to come to terms with troubling accusations by one close friend against another. One of the boys, too, had been lured into sex by an older classmate when he was too drunk to refuse. He wanted to know: was that rape? More often, though, they talked about the complexity of establishing basic boundaries, with partners and within themselves, in a culture of contradiction, in which there has been some, but not enough, change in the expectations for, consequences of, and meaning of sex for both boys and girls. “Like, okay, ‘yes means yes,’” said Michael, who had pushed his shaggy hair, Mark Sanchez style, back in a headband. “But how does that ‘yes’ change with every situation you’re in? When you’re drunk, what does that ‘yes’ mean? Or is it only really ‘yes’ when you’re sober?” “And what about people getting drunk in order to say yes?” Annika added, sitting forward eagerly, her elbows resting on her knees. “I know a situation where two people were interested in each other and asked a friend to have a party so that they could get drunk and hook up.”

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  4 For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have a tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come, 6 b and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace. 7 For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. [Gen 3:17 , 18 ] Better Things for You 9 But, beloved, even though we speak to you in this way, c we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for His name in ministering to [the needs of] the saints (God’s people), as you do. 11 And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises. 13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, 14 saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU .” [Gen 22:16 , 17 ] 15 And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God]. 16 Indeed men swear [an oath] by d one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute. 17 In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Is 52:7 ] 16 Above all, lift up the [protective] d shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one . 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION , and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. [Is 59:17 ] 18 With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all e God’s people. 19 And pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news [of salvation], 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. And pray that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly and courageously, as I should. 21 Now, so that you may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are, and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts. 23 Peace be to the f brothers and sisters, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible love. Ephesians 1 a 1:1 “Saints” refers to born-again believers. All believers are holy, that is, set apart or sanctified for God’s purpose. b 1:1 Three early mss do not contain “at Ephesus.” Some scholars suggest that this was intended as a circular letter for various churches of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), sent first to Ephesus and then to the other churches. See Paul’s instruction to the Colossians in 4:16 . Others believe the letter was directed only to the Ephesians because of its many personal references. The books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are believed to have been written by Paul while he was a prisoner under house arrest in Rome (A .D . 60–62) (cf 6:20 ). c 1:3 In Greek this passage (vv 3–14 ), also referred to as a doxology, is one sentence. d 1:11 Or our destiny . e 1:14 Or down payment . f 1:18 In the NT the word “hope” expresses a cherished desire along with the confident assurance of obtaining that which is longed for. g 1:18 See note v 1 . h 1:20 The first of three manifestations of God’s power exhibited in Christ. i 1:22 The second manifestation of God’s power exhibited in Christ. j 1:22 This is the third manifestation of God’s power exhibited in Christ. Ephesians 2 a 2:3 Lit flesh . b 2:13 Or in .

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  They still haven’t found Jejah. Once in a while, a politician promises they’ll be located. In principle, the manhunt continues. The absence of proof, I’ve come to believe, isn’t proof on its own. I’ve noticed signs, each of which might be incidental, but not like this, as a whole, collected. I’ve received phone calls that hang up at the first ring; a mailed brochure to a concert-hall Libich revival. Then, not long ago, I left the office to get lunch at Meilai’s, a third-story Sichuan dive I liked. I was in line when I glanced toward the street. I saw Phoebe, in a striped sundress, looking up from the shade of an ailanthus. She’d lost weight, hair cut short; still, it was Phoebe. She turned, shoulders jutting out. I ran down. I shouted, but she’d gone. I’m aware of what people are saying, that she’s drowned, lost, but I also know Phoebe. I’ll open the door to a ringing bell, and she’ll be there: short-haired, face split open with a smile. You don’t even look surprised, she’ll tell me. That morning in June, when I’d seen Julian, I went down into the Columbus Circle station. It was loud inside, the platform more crowded than usual. I sighted the source of the tumult: a band of six male dancers, in white latex tights. With bodies liberated from gravity’s laws, they swung out of handsprings into lithe spins. More people turned to watch while an express train hurtled in, the gust of wind nudging thin fabric around bare arms and thighs. The wind blew through, until it looked as if the entire population might float up out of the tunnel, cracking through its stone and earth, into the day’s hot light. We can all go. No one gets left behind. The world’s graves fling open, the giddied, dirt-stained dead rushing toward the streets of gold, alive again, at last. The wind settled. In minutes, the local train arrived. I pushed in, then I kept waiting. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWith profound gratitude to Ellen Levine, agent extraordinaire, and to Martha Wydysh and Alexa Stark. To Laura Perciasepe, best of editors. To Glory Anne Plata and Jennifer Huang, splendid publicists, and to the rest of wonderful Riverhead, especially Janice Kurzius, Jennifer Eck, Melissa Solis, Mia Alberro, Lucia Bernard, Claire Vaccaro, Jaya Miceli, Helen Yentus, Katie Freeman, Jynne Dilling Martin, Carla Bruce-Eddings, Bob Belmont, Wendy Pearl, Brian Etling, and Brian Contine. To the National Endowment for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Steinbeck Fellowship, Omi International, the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Squaw Valley Writers Workshops, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, Hedgebrook, the Anderson Center, and the Creative Capacity Fund, for vital support. To the Corporation of Yaddo, for the remarkable generosity of three fellowships.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  21 The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders (miracles) which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD , “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 “So I say to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” 24 Now it happened at the lodging place, that the LORD met Moses and sought to kill him [making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons]. [Gen 17:9–14 ] 25 d Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let Moses alone [to recover]. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision. 27 The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Sinai) and kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went [into Egypt] and assembled all the elders of the Israelites; 30 and Aaron said all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then Moses performed the signs [given to him by God] before the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about the Israelites and that He had looked [with compassion] on their suffering, then they bowed their heads and worshiped [the LORD ]. Exodus 5 Israel’s Labor Increased 1 A FTERWARD MOSES and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD , the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD , nor will I let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, “Why do you take the people away from their work?

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  9 Urge bond-servants to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be pleasing and not talk back, 10 not stealing [things, regardless of value], but proving themselves trustworthy, so that in every respect they will adorn and do credit to the teaching of God our Savior. 11 For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that a brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to reject ungodliness and worldly (immoral) desires, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives [lives with a purpose that reflect spiritual maturity] in this present age, 13 awaiting and confidently expecting the [fulfillment of our] blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who [willingly] gave Himself [to be crucified] on our behalf to redeem us and purchase our freedom from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a chosen and very special people to be His own possession, who are enthusiastic for doing what is good. [Deut 14:2 ; Ps 130:8 ; Ezek 37:23 ] 15 Tell them these things. Encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one disregard or despise you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect]. Titus 3 Godly Living 1 R EMIND PEOPLE to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready and willing to do good, 2 to slander or abuse no one, to be kind and conciliatory and gentle, showing unqualified consideration and courtesy toward everyone. 3 For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ], 5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that we would be justified [made free of the guilt of sin] by His [compassionate, undeserved] grace, and that we would be [acknowledged as acceptable to Him and] made heirs of eternal life [actually experiencing it] according to our hope (His guarantee). 8 This is a faithful and trustworthy saying; and concerning these things I want you to speak with great confidence, so that those who have believed God [that is, those who have trusted in, relied on, and accepted Christ Jesus as Savior,] will be careful to participate in doing good and honorable things. These things are excellent [in themselves] and profitable for the people. 9 But avoid foolish and ill-informed and stupid controversies and genealogies and dissensions and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and useless.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Lev 26:33 ; Deut 28:64 ; Hos 9:17 ] 10 “All the sinners among My people will die by the sword, Those who say [defiantly], ‘The disaster will not overtake or confront us.’ The Restoration of Israel 11 “In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen b tabernacle (booth) of David, And wall up its breaches [in the city walls]; I will also raise up and restore its ruins And rebuild it as it was in the days of old, 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom (ancient enemies) And all the nations that are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this. [Acts 15:15–17 ] 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD , “When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest, And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time]; When the mountains will drip sweet wine And all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing]. [Lev 26:5 ; Joel 3:18 ] 14 “Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them: They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 “I will also plant them on their land, And they shall never again be uprooted from their land Which I have given them,” Says the LORD your God. Amos 1 a 1:1 Tekoa was a small town in Judah about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. b 1:1 Amos was from the Southern Kingdom, Judah, but his message of divine judgment was primarily directed to the Northern Kingdom, Israel. c 1:4 Hazael ruled from Damascus (842–796 B .C .) as king of Aram (Syria). He was an important official in the court of Hadadezer whom he assassinated and then succeeded. d 1:4 Ben-hadad succeeded his father and ruled from 796–775 B .C . e 1:5 Perhaps back to the homeland of the Arameans (Syrians). Its location is uncertain. f 1:13 Descendants of Ben-ammi, the son born to Lot and his younger daughter (Gen 19:30–38 ). Amos 2 a 2:1 Descendants of Moab, the son born to Lot and his elder daughter (Gen 19:30–38 ). b 2:7 Possibly a temple prostitute. Amos 3 a 3:7 God has always warned of coming judgment in order that people may choose to change their behavior and avoid it. He warned Noah of the coming flood (Gen 6:13ff ); Abraham and Lot of the future destruction of Sodom (Gen 18:17 ; 19:14 ); Joseph of the seven-year famine (Gen 41:30 ); Moses of the ten plagues on Egypt (Ex 7:1ff ); Jonah of the destruction of Nineveh (Jon 1:2 ; 3:4 ); Amos of the downfall of Aram (Syria), Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1 and 2 ).

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of d Machpelah to the east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possession and burial place. Genesis 24 A Bride for Isaac 1 N ow Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, “Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath], [Gen 15:2 ] 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD , the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4 but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise].” 5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there! 7 “The LORD , the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here]. 8 “If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oath and blameless; only you must never take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to a Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother]. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O LORD , God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham.