"Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination. But just as a muscle grows flabby with disuse, so the bright imagination of a child pales in later years if he ceases to exercise it." ~ Walt Disney

Good to see you. It is Thursday, February 7, 2019, and I'm glad you got on board for our ride through the woods and over the hills. I'm pretty much immersed at the moment in the life and times of the Bible character Joseph. God preserved Joseph's account for a reason. The Patriarch and faith model, Abraham, (Abram), is mentioned 231 times in the Old Testament. He is a key figure. Joseph's name comes up 215 times. This means his life is worth studying. When I am studying these passages day after day I typically also think about them at night. I dream about being alive at the same time with Joseph, as an observer of his day by day living. One of the things that commentators talk about in connection with Joseph is the parallels between his life and the life of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. While these types are meaningful, to focus on them almost exclusively tends to overshadow the text itself. Or, that's the way I see it. I do agree that all of The Scriptures are about God's redemption and in that sense Bible history is His-Story, but, there's much to be gained by examining the life and times of Joseph, son of Jacob, (Israel), as he dealt with God's working in his life. Many years ago I wrote maybe a dozen children's stories about Bible characters or events. I wrote it from the perspective of a young boy by the name of Wilbur. Each story began with his parents coming into his room at night to pray with him at bedtime. They would read to him a Bible story and then pray. Wilbur would drift off to sleep and soon he would be in the scenes he had just heard about. He would typically join up with some other kids who were there to see David and Goliath, Samson, Joseph, in the stable the night Jesus was born, with the little guy who shared his loves and fishes to feed the multitude, and other Bible accounts. My point? Becoming immersed in a biblical text is not new to me. And, yes, I did try to get someone to pick up my stories. That didn't work out, but, who knows? I might get back to them again. That is if I had any idea where they might be.

Maybe that's why I've always loved time travel stories, books, and movies. They intrigue me. I really liked the TV series, The Time Tunnel. Every week the fellows floating out in time would land in a different place, typically on the threshold of a major historical event. On the Titanic just before she sank. With Washington during a crucial battle during the Revolutionary War, at Gettysburg, the Lincoln assassination, and many others. That time travel orientation started with me as a kid. I was introduced to books fairly early on and many of them were historical adventure novels and I would devour them and then replay them in my dreams. I know. At this time is when some of my readers think maybe I should schedule one of those sessions where I lay on the couch and tell someone my sad stories. You know. How that I was so dissatisfied with the here and now I was always seeking to escape. I actually think it was born of a vivid imagination but others are entitled to their opinion. It might also be my way of doing the proverbial 'fly on the wall' in terms of seeing for myself the things I was studying. Or, it could be something far more sinister and deep-seated. I just threw that one in to cover anything I may have missed. You will recall that I have made it clear over the years that being me is not such an easy proposition. Keep that in mind. I think the folks who advised Ronald Reagan called it, "Plausible deniability." That's my story and for now, I'm sticking to it.

I would say, enough about that aside, however, history might reveal it isn't an aside at all. Moving on along, I thought the President's State of the Union speech was very good. I voted for him even though I would have preferred a different candidate, however, I can't remember anyone in my lifetime who is willing to speak the truth as he sees it without political correctness as a filter. His strong words about the blood spilled to make us a free country versus a government run socialist nation was very powerful indeed. His direct addressing of the recently enacted New York abortion law was as clear as it could be. I believe the nation is beginning to appreciate the horror of what was celebrated in New York, the killing of a child at the very point of birth. I did listen also to the rebuttal. I also listened to the assessment from those who hate the President and everything he stands for. They did not see the speech the way I did. Early polls say the American public viewed it overwhelmingly positive. Even Democrat Party members gave him some credit. But, not the ruling class of their party. They eviscerated every point he made. They even criticized him for scoring points by bringing bonified heroes to the show, a complaint I never heard when President Obama did the same thing. Oh well, that's why we have differences of opinion. I'm not for either party. I am for the United States of America, one nation under God. Amen. ....More later.