It’s February and time for another writing prompt. With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching let’s explore love!
The Bible is full of love stories.
Isaac found his love, Rebekah, through a marriage arranged by his dad (Genesis 24:1-67).
Jacob knew whom he loved, but found his cagey father-in-law knew better, at least in the how to get his less attractive but older daughter off his hands department. This love triangle is full of heartbreak and jealousy, and not only for the unloved wife (Genesis 29:1-32).
Then there’s the story princess of Michal who loved David—yes, a woman-instigated romance (1 Samuel 18:12-29; 19:10-14)
And there’s the mixed race, December-April marriage of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 2-3).
Here are some suggestions of ways you might approach a piece on love:
For poets:
Write a poem from the viewpoint of one of the men or women above. Choose a moment in time within their story, and express their thoughts, emotions, hopes, fears, and frustrations at that moment.
or
Write an ekphrastic poem, inspired by one of the artist renderings above.
For fiction writers:
Imagine and recreate a scene between one group of lovers above. For example write about:
- the first time Isaac and Rebekah meet.
- the first meeting of Jacob and Rachel after Jacob has been tricked into marrying Leah. (Is Jacob suspicious that Rachel was party to her father’s ruse?)
- the meeting of Ruth and Boaz after he has secured the right to marry her.
or write a modern love scene based on one of the scenarios above.
For non-fiction writers:
Write about your personal experience with one of the the types of relationships from our Bible examples (arranged marriages, love triangles, women instigating romantic relationships, marriages of mixed race and/or disparate age).
or
Express your opinion about one of the types of relationships.
If you choose to accept the challenge and publish what you write on your blog, let me know in Comments and I’ll post a link to your piece.
Violet Nesdoly 