Survive and Remember

3 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, ⁴young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ⁵The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court. ⁶Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. ⁷The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine; so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself. ⁹Now God allowed Daniel to receive favour and compassion from the palace master. ¹⁰The palace master said to Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king; he has appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition than the other young men of your own age, you would endanger my head with the king.’ ¹¹Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ¹²‘Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.’ ¹⁴So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations. ¹⁶So the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. ¹⁷To these four young men God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had insight into all visions and dreams.
18 At the end of the time that the king had set for them to be brought in, the palace master brought them into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, ¹⁹and the king spoke with them. And among them all, no one was found to compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they were stationed in the king’s court. ²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. ²¹And Daniel continued there until the first year of King Cyrus. Daniel 1:3-21

whatever you have to do survive
survive
    Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
        taken from home
        taken from safety and security
        taken from family and friends
        taken from the language and culture they know
        taken from all that feels safe and comfortable
survive
whatever it takes survive
and remember
    remember who you are
    remember where you came from
    remember what we taught you
    remember are you learned about life, about God, about us
    remember we will always love you
in that movement from the familiar to the unknown
in that movement from freedom to captivity
    they get lucky
    they have the right pedigree
    they are smart, handsome, athletic
they learn to survive
   they get new names
   they learn a new language
   they learn a new culture
   they learn about the new Gods
   they learn how to act and speak so they can fit, blend in,
daily they make little compromises
   they lay down bits and pieces of themselves
   they lose prt of themselves
         that they may never get back
then one day it is too far
   they are asking too much
   Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah just can't
   this is the line
   this is the place where they cannot follow
   this is the moment when they can't step over the line
   they find a work around
   they find a way to change the requirement
   they can't let go of this piece of themselves
they choose another way