WHAT MIGHT JOSEPH WANT TO TELL US?

[PLEASE READ FIRST:  The following is a piece of fiction.  I know that some Christians become very upset if people write or perform fictional pieces about Biblical characters.  They feel such pieces or performances are blasphemous, sacrilegious, or inappropriate.  If you're one of those Christians, you can feel free to stop reading now.  If, however, you can appreciate the value of a creative piece about a Biblical character or a Biblical story, please continue on!]

"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?..." (from Genesis 45:3)

I feel extremely blessed to be writing this piece.  I'm Joseph - not the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus Christ; not that Joseph!  I'm the man many would refer to as "Joseph of the Old Testament".  It would take thousands of paragraphs to explain how I was given permission to write this essay on Bob Baril's blog; how I was enabled to speak and understand twenty-first century American English; how I was enabled to understand your technology; your geography, your history, your sports and entertainment, and even your idioms.  That's been all miraculously taken care of!  In this piece I'm giving you a rare treat and privilege.  I'm letting you hear from me and know me.  I'm sharing some thoughts with you that I learned in my ancient life which can greatly help you as you live your modern American lives - and this especially applies to those of you who are evangelical Christians!

Listen, my life in many respects was crazy!  I know that countless modern American Christians love to complain!  They really expect life to just be one happy barrel of laughs, and they really expect life to be decades of happiness, success, and euphoria!  I guess that's the first thing I want you to know:  Such thinking is very wrong and very misguided.  A Christian who expects life to be that way will be doomed to failure and spiritual catastrophe.  How would most of these American Christians handle being sold into slavery at age seventeen, and then spending the next thirteen years as a slave and later as a prison inmate?

I understand Mark Twain said, "Youth is wasted on the young!"  He was right!  Do you have hopes and plans and dreams?  That's fine!  That's good!  But you don't have to broadcast this to everybody!  That was a huge mistake on my part.  I know.  I guess I can blame my father for it.  And that's another thing a lot of people are good at - blaming their parents for their shortcomings.  I will say Jacob's tendency toward favoritism was a big mistake!  He did favor me!  He treated me like Little Lord Fauntleroy!  But my horrific experiences were mostly my fault.  I loved the dreams I had.  I bragged to my brothers about them.  I dreamed and fantasized about my family bowing down to me!  My brothers hated me.  Why didn't I have enough brains to keep that stuff to myself?  When my brothers threw me into a cistern and then sold me to some Midianite traders, I couldn't have been more shocked!  I screamed!  I yelled, "You can't do this to me!"  But they did.  

I loved God.  I believed in God.  I trusted God.  I had no Bible, mind you.  There were no Bibles then!  But I knew the stories of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Abel, of Noah, and of my great-grandfather Abraham.  I believed in miracles.  But I was terrified!  Once my ordeal began, I was constantly harassed by the devil who told me God had let me down and I needed to hate God.  Somehow I just couldn't do that.  Imagine having to learn a new language.  There were no special language classes.  You just had to listen and pick it up.  At first, my life in Egypt was absolutely terrible.  I was scared all the time.  But my owner, Potiphar, who was a really high level guy in the Egyptian military and government, amazingly liked me!  Some of the other slaves weren't happy about that.  In time, I became a slave inside his household doing what your culture would call "White collar work".  This may sound really weird.  But slavery in the ancient world could be much different from what you'd imagine!  Did you know in the days of the Roman Empire some physicians were slaves to wealthy people and families, for instance?

Then there was Mrs. Potiphar!  You've heard of a "cougar"?  I don't mean an animal.  I mean an older woman who preys sexually on boys and young men.  That's what she was.  She was always after me!  Some of my fellow slaves were jealous of that!  As bad as things were for me, I knew having sex with her would not make anything better.  This may sound unbelievable, but most of all, I didn't want to upset God!  Many of you know the story.  She accused me of trying to rape her!  Do you know what would normally be done to a slave who tried to rape (or did rape) an Egyptian official's wife?  He'd be executed!  

I thought I might be executed.  But it was obvious Potiphar didn't believe her accusations.  However, like Pontius Pilate, Potiphar was in a quandary!  He didn't want to have me executed, but he couldn't have me remain as his slave.  His solution was to put me in prison.  It was a small prison, and actually it was what your culture would call a "minimal security prison for white collar criminals".  So, you're disappointed in God, you hate your life, and you think God is cruel and unfair?  How'd you have handled this situation?  Well, again, this may sound crazy but in a lot of ways being in that prison was better than being a slave.  I just did the best I could.  However, remember all those dreams I'd had?  Nobody was bowing down to me!  I wasn't successful!  My prospects for the future were pretty much poor!

If you've seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, you know what ultimately happens in my story.  I interpret dreams for Pharaoh, and as some folks have said, "One day Joseph woke up as a prisoner and went to bed as a prince!"  I wasn't exactly a prince, but I became the second most important person in Egypt.  I married Asenath, daughter of Poti-pherah, priest of On.  I had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  And as many of you know, after over twenty years, I met my long lost brothers, put them through some serious testing, they and my father came to live in Egypt, and we all lived happily ever after.  Sort of!

Again, why am I writing all this?  Because ninety-eight percent of today's American Christians would never make it through what I endured!  I want you to think about that!  And I want to give you Five Rules for Living which I sincerely hope you'll put into practice!  Here they are:

1.  PUT GOD FRONT AND CENTER IN YOUR LIFE!   Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

2.  BE BOTH TOUGH AND TENDER, USING MUCH WISDOM!  Matthew 10:16 says, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:  be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

3.  FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE!  Matthew 18:21-22 says, "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times:  but, Until seventy times seven."

4.  KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE LORD WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE!  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

5.  NO MATTER HOW BAD SOMETHING IS, REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL BRING GOOD OUT OF IT!  Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Canton, MA - Where the "Soap Opera" is REAL!

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  (John 8:32)

If I'm ever asked to play one of those parlor games where you have to disclose something about yourself nobody would ever guess or suspect, I usually write, "I was hooked on a soap opera".  Indeed I was.  It was "All My Children" on ABC back in the early 1970s.  (That's the show on which Susan Lucci played Erica Kane.)  One summer day in 1972 my mother asked me to watch that particular day's episode and let her know what happened.  I did.  And the next thing you know, any weekday I was free at 1 in the afternoon it was time for "All My Children".  I went to Stonehill College.  1 p.m. was not a time in which a lot of classes were typically scheduled, so I caught AMC two or three times a week.  And that went on till sometime in 1974 when (as we evangelicals sometimes admit) "I got convicted by the Holy Spirit".  I knew watching AMC was a stupid waste of time.  But it was sort of a guilty pleasure.  However, shortly after "getting convicted" I gave the show up cold turkey!  And I'm glad I did!

At least "All My Children" wasn't real.  I mean, nobody was ever going to run into Dr. Tyler, or Paul Martin, or Nick Davis, or (perish the thought) Erica Kane at a supermarket or a fast food restaurant or while pumping gas at a self serve filling station!  But the "soap opera" currently happening in Canton, Massachusetts, and which has been "on the air" (so to speak) for over three years is the "Karen Reed Case", and it's a reality.  I remember when radio and television news reports in late January and early February of 2022 began speaking about the body of Boston Police Office John O'Keefe being found in the snow during a blizzard on a front lawn at 34 Fairview Road, Canton.  And, several days later, reports were given stating he'd been fighting with his girlfriend Karen Read and that it was believed she'd hit him with her SUV and left him to die.  I didn't know Officer O'Keefe, nor did I know Karen Read.  It sounded like whatever happened on Fairview Road between O'Keefe and Read was both bizarre and horrific!

During the next couple of years, rumors and reports about John O'Keefe's death became more frequent and more amazing.  A controversial blogger and a couple of popular talk radio hosts began frequently reporting that Karen Read did not hit John O'Keefe at all.  Rather, it was rumored that he'd been murdered inside the 34 Fairview Road house and that Karen Read, a victim of an elaborate conspiracy and cover-up, was being framed.  In Canton, a Boston suburb of about 24,000, two camps formed:  There was the "Karen Read was Framed" camp, and there was the "We Support the Men and Women of the Canton Police Department" camp.  If you think the divisions between people who love Donald Trump and people who hate Donald Trump are scary and extreme, that's nothing compared to the divisions over the Karen Read case in Canton, Massachusetts!

It's not unusual that over the years some people have switched sides once or even twice.  I will admit, I was once on one side and now I'm on the other side!  I'm not going to tell you which side I'm on.  Last year Karen Read was tried for Second Degree Murder (among other charges).  The trial resulted in a "hung jury".  Several days ago, the "re-trying" of Karen Read began at Dedham Superior Court.  I've been praying about this case for a long time, and it's my sincere prayer that if she is truly Guilty she'll be found Guilty, and if she is truly Not Guilty she'll be found Not Guilty.

Whatever the results of the trial, I suspect Karen Read will never set foot in Canton, Mass. again! But many of the other "players" (or maybe it's "personalities") are still around and about in the community.  It is freaky to see one of them when you are just going about your business in Canton.  I try to not stare at the person and to not act weird, but it's difficult!  I frequently take a long walk around Canton.  On my walk, I pass 1 Meadows Avenue, where John O'Keefe lived and where his parents now live.  I pass the Waterfall Bar, and C.F. McCarthy's, where John and Karen and many of the "players" were on that fateful January 2022 night.  I also pass Chris Albert's pizza shop.  His brother was the owner of the Fairview Road residence.  I don't pass 34 Fairview Road.  It's a couple miles away.  But I suppose one day if I get ambitious, I'll take a walk past there, too.

Who would have thought this case would make Canton famous and that "true crime junkies" from all over the world would be studying and discussing these "players" and locations?   Yeah, it's like people and events from a soap opera have come to life!  It's kind of eerie!

Almost ten years ago now, my son Jon and I were on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.  Well, Jon was the contestant and I was his "Plus One".  That show was produced in several different locations through the years.  At that time, the show was done in Stamford, Connecticut.  His episode aired several times.  The first time was on Columbus Day 2015.  Jon had "banked" $30,000 and was going for $50,000.  As his "Plus One" I gave him a wrong answer!  His "winnings" dropped to $5,000 and that was that!  Being on the show was what being in Canton, MA feels like right now.  It was so weird to be in studio and to be talking to Chris Harrison.  In the "green room" I'd also talked to other contestants and a producer.  I know the word is overused but it was surreal.  And, I felt the same way when I told a story at a MOTH Mainstage Event in Boston which was broadcast on their national radio program on public radio a couple of times.  When you're there and it's real it's what I call "a trip"!

I know this will sound crazy to some readers and that some will laugh at me or mock me.  But at Millionaire as I was experiencing everything remember thinking, "When I get to Heaven, I think it's going to feel something like this.  I read the Bible and I pray.  And I know God has done some powerful and significant things in my life.  But at some point I'll pass from this life into the next life - and I'll actually experience what Mercy Me sings about in their song I Can Only Imagine."  

I've experienced it before.  I'm experiencing it now.  And for sure, I'm going to experience it in Heaven someday - that Truth is not only stranger than Fiction - Truth is Reality!

Why I Identify With THE HURTING And With THE HELPER

 "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."  (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Last week there was a rarity on television!  Something was "hyped to the inth degree" by CBS as something very important that must be watched.  In the past, a number of items have been similarly proclaimed by a television network.  The publicity may be "off the charts".  It's all you hear about!  It's all over social media.  You tune in.  You watch it.  And you think "Huh?  That was boring, stupid, and not worth watching at all!"  Last week was different.  Last week was surprising.  CBS proclaimed the Thursday, March 27 episode of Survivor as extraordinary - an episode which would feature one of the most powerful and important happenings on Survivor ever!  I did not watch on Thursday night, and I hadn't seen Survivor in over a decade, although at one time I watched the show regularly.  I watch a lot less television than I did at one time.  Frankly, I consider much of what's currently on network television to be garbage!  Saturday evening, I happened to be flipping through the channels.  I was surprised that Survivor was coming on, and as far as I could tell, it would be a repeat of the regular Thursday night episode.  I decided to watch and see what this great thing was which the network was proclaiming.  I wasn't disappointed!

It's still quite early in this season's Survivor.  There are still plenty of contestants.  There was (in my opinion) a pretty tough "physical challenge" in which they were all competing.  I want to focus on two competitors who were each on two different teams:  Eva Erickson, a 24-year-old Ph.D. student who is also on a female hockey team; and Joe Hunter, a 45-year-old Fire Dept. Captain.  Eva was giving her all to the challenge.  She succeeded, but it obviously was taxing for her, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  The only way I can describe it is she had what I call "a melt down".  She was crying, and trembling, and obviously distraught.  She was definitely "not okay".  The viewers could see that Joe was very compassionate and concerned for Eva.  Jeff Probst the host did something he pretty much never does.  He broke protocol.  He asked Joe if he wanted to go over and comfort Eva, and Joe responded in the affirmative.  He went to Eva. hugged her, tightly held both of her hands, and calmly instructed her to breathe as he gave her words of reassurance and told her it would be okay.

It didn't take long for Eva to become calm.  She then addressed everyone present.  She told them she is autistic and that she was diagnosed with autism as a young child.  Her parents were told all the things that Eva would never be able to do because she "was not normal".  Her parents chose to believe despite Eva's autism she could live a normal life and that there was not something deficient about her.  Eva was mainstreamed in school.  Things were not always easy for her.  She referred to what happened during the Survivor physical challenge as an "episode".  She explained that all her life she's had to deal with these "episodes" but that she has never allowed them to stop her.  As an amateur hockey player and a Ph.D. candidate, obviously she hasn't allowed autism to prevent her from success in life.  As for Joe, he commented that what he did for Eva is what he'd expect someone to do for his own daughter were she in a similar situation.

I cannot properly express how deeply moved and affected I was by watching this very powerful situation on Survivor.  In doing so, I realized that I definitely identified with Eva, who had been deeply hurting and that I also identified with Joe, who was the helper.

Many years ago, I used to describe myself as "eccentric".  I will say my wife never liked that!  It's true that when people think of an "eccentric" person, they tend to think of "a nut", of someone that just makes everybody uncomfortable and will never fit in.  That's really not what it means to be "eccentric".  Rather, the word simply means "outside the circle".  An eccentric person is one who marches to the beat of a different drummer.  I've always been that person.  But in more recent years, I've described myself as "unconventional" which for some reason is less off-putting to people.  I don't have the space here to write about the "eccentric" and "unconventional" things I've done in life.  It would probably take forty-seven paragraphs for me to do that!  I will tell you just one.  Most of you know I'm an Assemblies of God minister.  At our 1998 District Council which is a business meeting and conference of the AG ministers and church leaders in Southern New England, I brought forth a proposal to change the annual financial giving requirements for ministers.  As I stood there before a couple hundred people discussing my proposal (which I really thought was a great idea) I could just feel the negativity and disapproval in the room.  I was confident on the outside but began to feel pretty scared on the inside.  There was a "voice vote" taken regarding my proposal.  Suffice it to say, it lost.  I'd say maybe 4% voted For it and 96% voted Against it.  During the remainder of the conference, I wondered if people were looking at me and thinking, "There's that weirdo".  So, yeah, I've had plenty of my Eva Erickson moments.  And I believe that's made me more compassionate.

But I've got to tell you about Stephen Weber here.  Who is he?  He was another minister in the District.  Honestly, I hardly knew him.  A few days later he contacted me.  He told me he'd voted For the proposal and that he appreciated what I'd tried to do.  He gave me some good counsel which I never forgot.  He said, "You never bring a proposal like that by yourself.  You've got to have at least two other people with you.  And one of them has to be somebody who has some clout in the District."  Rev. Weber told me if I wanted to try again, and set up a committee of folks who'd like to work on bringing a future proposal about changing the policy regarding financial giving requirements for ministers, he'd be happy to work on it with me.

I never did.  And I'm not close to Stephen Weber.  He now lives in another part of the country.  But he did a lot to make me feel not like a jerk but rather like a valuable and thoughtful and important human being.  I think just his reaching out to me made a tremendous impact.  I relate to Joe Hunter.  When somebody's "out there" having "an episode" I want to be the guy who jumps in and helps and encourages and affirms that person.  And I really try to do that!

There's a lot more I want to say.  But I think I've made my point.  I can't believe I'm writing this but, Thank you CBS and Jeff Probst for that powerful episode of Survivor.  And Thank you Stephen Weber for what you did for me back in 1998.  And Thank you to all the eccentric and unconventional people out there, including but certainly not limited to people with autism.  You bring some important stuff to the table and teach all of us some valuable lessons.  And Thank you to all the Joe Hunters who don't care what anybody else thinks but don't hesitate to jump in and comfort and help folks who desperately need that comfort and help.

I know the cliche "W.W.J.D. - What Would Jesus Do?" got way overused back in the 1990s.  But in this Easter season, I hope you won't just follow the crowd and just do what everybody else is doing - good or bad.  I hope you'll remember that powerful scene from Survivor.  It's all over social media.  If you haven't seen it, you should be able to find it and view it pretty easily.  And I do hope you really will ask yourself in every situation, "What Would Jesus Do?"

Identify with The Hurting!  And when you are able to do so, Be The Helper!

LEAVING A LAUDABLE LEGACY

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:  Who have for my life laid down their own necks:  unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles."  (Romans 16:3-4)

Priscilla and Aquila were personal friends and ministry associates of the Apostle Paul in the first century.  You can read all about them in the Biblical Book of Acts.  It's been almost two thousand years, but they're still remembered.  They left a laudable legacy.  I'm age seventy.  When you're a teenager, you usually don't think much about death, funerals, where you're going to be buried, and what kind of a legacy you'll leave.  And unless there's some kind of a terrible tragedy like a fatal car accident, you don't usually find yourself going to friend's funerals.  At age seventy, it's a completely different ballgame!  As Jimmy Swaggart has said, that's a big part of the reason he sings that old song "Heaven's Sounding Sweeter All the Time".  At this age you frequently are facing the passing of friends and acquaintances.  Yesterday a dear woman named Sandra, from the church where Mary Ann and I attend, passed into Heaven.  It's a medium-sized church and Mary Ann and I live over fifty miles from it, so I can't say I have a lot of close friends there.  But there are people there who've made an impact on my life and Sandra and her husband Scott are among those people.  Scott's the church's Missions person.  He usually shares a Missionary Highlight during one service each month.  Since my daughter's a missionary, and one of those the church supports, that's important to me.  Sandra had a lot of health problems, especially during the past few years.  She was in a wheelchair.  I knew she faced a lot of physical challenges.  That's why I was surprised when several times over the past year, she'd signal for me to come over and talk to her, she'd give me a big smile, and she'd tell me how much she enjoyed reading what I post online.  I honestly don't receive much positive feedback about what I post online.  For Sandra to make a point of telling me that - well, it was pretty special.  I greatly appreciated it. 

A few months ago a woman from our church named Trisha also passed away.  She also had been a fan of my online writings.  (I know, that may sound awful... like my online writings make people die... I trust that's not the case!)  And then I think of my ministry friend Billy Meek in Tennessee.  He died during the Spring of 2023.  I can't tell you how many times Billy showed me love and encouragement.  He had very serious health problems.  Yet he used to say, "I still gots my joy!".  When he passed, I actually recorded a memorial piece about him on YouTube.

Legacy is so important!  What kind of a legacy will I leave when I pass?  My Dad was seventy-seven when he died, and my Mom was seventy-six.  I may not live more than a few more years.  The legacy I will leave is something I think about.  Billy, Trisha, and Sandra showed the great importance of being an encourager.  As a pastor I preached a lot of "Get your act together!" kind of sermons.  There is a place for sermons like that, but I think were I pastoring now, there'd be more encouraging sermons.  Honestly, I've gone through some serious depression and self-doubt over the past fifteen years.  People like Billy, Trisha, and Sandra (and there are others who are still alive!) have come to mean so much to me!  

I don't preach all that much anymore.  But I try whenever I can to be an encourager.  If one person at my memorial service someday says, "Bob Baril was an encourager" and I know about that in Heaven, there will actually be "tears in Heaven" from me.  They won't be tears of sadness; they'll be tears of great joy.

I hope this doesn't come across as morbid.  That's not my intention.  But as I'm typing, I'm thinking of the words of someone else I've known who is now in Heaven:  Opal Reddin who taught at Central Bible College.  She used to say, "There's a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun!".  Yeah, that's "old school".  It's what all the old southern evangelists used to say fifty-plus years ago.  And it's true. 

I have a bunch of handwritten notes in front of me.  There are other stories and other things I want to add to this.  But preachers have a habit of going on too long!  If I were actually preaching this from a pulpit, would it be better for me to continue on for fifteen more minutes?  Or would it be better for me to wrap it up and give an altar call?

You guessed it!  Maybe you're not in a place to get on your knees right now.  But spend some time with God sometime soon.  Allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart.  I know I don't want to be an overbearing jerk - and sometimes in life that's exactly what I've been!  No!  I want to be an encourager like Billy, and Trisha, and Sandra!  I hope you also want to Leave a Laudable Legacy!

"WHAT did you just DO?!"

 "A soft answer turneth away wrath:  but grievous words stir up anger."  (Proverbs 15:1)

It happened in a suburban supermarket parking lot.  I heard a loud, angry, confrontational female voice.  Quickly glancing behind me, I saw a blonde, middle-aged woman storming toward me.

"WHAT did you just DO?!" she was asking me.

The genesis of what led up to that moment happened a few months earlier.  Many of you know that I'm an Assemblies of God minister - although I haven't actually pastored a church in fourteen years.  I don't have many hobbies.  Many ministers play golf.  In fact, many are serious golfers.  But, alas, I only play "Putt-Putt"!  Some are runners.  Some are pretty good photographers.  Some play musical instruments.  More than a few are avid gardeners.  And occasionally you'll find a minister who is gifted at woodworking.  But as I stated, I don't have many hobbies.  I did play the clarinet as a child and as a teenager.  I still have the instrument.  I haven't even tried to play it in maybe twenty years.  My sister is "bugging" me about having my clarinet professionally reconditioned (it really needs it) and playing again.  At times I seriously think I just might.  

One thing I notice is license plates.  And here in Massachusetts, auto inspection stickers, too.  And believe me, there are loads of cars with expired inspection stickers driving around the state of Massachusetts!  I'd been thinking for months about doing a daily feature on Facebook called "License Plate of the Day".  Nothing fancy.  Just taking a picture of an interesting license plate, posting it and dating the post, and wondering if it would get any reactions or comments.  That could be sort of a little, easy hobby.  

On May 3 of this year as I sat in my car in a supermarket parking lot in Brockton, I noticed a very interesting personalized license plate:  "BLAST 1".  Is that cool or what??  I got a little "gutsy".  I exited my car.  I snapped a photo of the plate, and that morning I posted it on Facebook.  That was the beginning and now there's been a "License Plate of the Day" posted by me every day for over six months!

Back to the angry, confrontational, (and slightly scary) blonde woman.  This happened maybe in July.  I'd just snapped a picture of a license plate.  It wasn't anywhere near as cool as "BLAST 1".  I don't even remember what it was.  I think there might have been a couple Xs in it, like maybe "XOX 25" - something like that.  I was walking away from the small SUV when I heard the yelling.  

She caught up to me.  She looked at me as though I were a criminal, a pervert, a horrible and sinister person, or all of those together!  I calmly smiled and told her I do a little feature on Facebook called License Plate of the Day and that I thought it would be a good plate to post there. 

"No.  NO!"  she snapped.  "I don't want anybody to see my plate!"

Maybe this was the wrong thing to say but I sort of chuckled and pointed out, "Well, actually MANY people DO see your plate every day!"

She didn't like that.  I told her my father was Eugene A. Baril who retired from the Registry of Motor Vehicles in 1982 and that because of him, on my car I have Massachusetts license plate 280.  She did calm down and lightened up a bit at that point.  She told me she was a former RMV employee and that's where she'd gotten her plate.  But she just didn't want me to use that photo.  I showed her the photo on my phone and I showed her I was deleting it.  She walked away, in a better frame of mind.

No kidding, about two weeks later, I repeated the scene; this time in a shopping center parking lot.  There was a white Cadillac SUV with kind of an interesting plate.  It wasn't even as good as the first woman's.  It was maybe something like "775 J".  I snapped the photo and was walking toward my car.

"Hey, WHAT do you think you're doing?!"

This was also a woman; also middle-aged.  This one was probably ten years older than the first.  She gave off both an affluent and arrogant impression.  I tried my explanation again.  This woman never worked for the RMV.  She also made me feel, you know, like a pervert, and a criminal, and a slippery and undesirable guy.  As in the first case, I showed her I was deleting the photo.

Since then, I'm still looking for interesting and/or significant license plates, but I must admit I look around a lot more and I'm much more careful to make sure nobody is watching me!

So what do you think?  Good hobby, or kind of silly and stupid hobby?  Or both?

Another hobby of mine is amateur writer.  Well, that's why I started this (most eclectic) blog back in 2006!  Don't get me wrong, I love preaching and I loved pastoring.  But I've had two dreams for years:  Newspaper columnist, and radio talk show host.  I guess now some of you are laughing like you're Kamala Harris!  You can stop.  But I don't think there's anything wrong with a person pursuing their interests!

Did you like this story?  You have no idea how much I enjoy feedback.  Even negative feedback.  One of the nicest things you can do for me is leave a comment right here on the blog or leave a comment on the Facebook link (if that's how you found out about this article).  And even better.  Share the link on  Facebook or Share the link somewhere else.  You have no idea how happy that will make me!

And finally if you have a really cool license plate, contact me!  I'll come and take a photo of it, and at least you won't start screaming at me!

The Story of Jack and Allie

 "The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him."  (Proverbs 18:17 New King James Version)

I don't know Jack or Allie.  I've never met either of them.  But their story is quite a tale; a tale which in many respects can serve as a parable or as an allegory.  I heard about Jack and Allie from a guy I know.  He knows Jack rather well; both as a coworker and as a friend.  I'll call the guy I know "David".  None of the names I'm using in this piece are the people's real names.  They're all fictitious.  I felt I might get into some real trouble if I used their actual names.  And the geographic references in this piece are also fictitious for similar reasons.  But the story as I present it is essentially true.  I think a lot of folks will find it fascinating, thought provoking, and even challenging.  You may wonder why David possibly told me this story.  As David sort of "lived through" this story because of many conversations Jack had with him, he kind of  "vented" it to me at times as he sought some pastoral advice from me - counsel he might actually be able to give to Jack.  Okay, that's enough of an introduction.  And now the story begins:

Jack and his wife Kathy are in their late fifties and live in suburban Seattle, Washington.  Jack spent a fair amount of time in the Army and later in the Army Reserve.  He's currently an I.T. guy at a high tech company.  My friend David also works at the same company alongside Jack.  Jack and Kathy were never able to conceive a child.  Around 2000, they went through the long and arduous process of adopting an international baby.  Eventually, after monumental hurdles and red tape they adopted a South Korean baby.  I don't know what the baby's birth name was.  No one does.  The baby girl was abandoned in a train station.  There was a note.  The note just stated the mother was age eighteen and had no way to take care of the baby.  She left her there hoping she'd be found, and ultimately adopted by a loving family.  Again, the birth mom did not provide the child's name or date of birth or any other information.

The authorities guessed on a date of birth.  The lack of information made this international adoption even more complicated than usual, but several months after the baby girl was left at the train station Jack and Allie travelled to South Korea to complete the adoption process and bring her to America.  They named her Allie after Kathy's best friend.  David met Allie when she was a teenager.  He described Allie as both very unusual and very impressive.  She got good grades in school, was active in extracurricular activities, and had a number of friends.  But the thing that stood out to David was that she was probably the most polite, respectful, and loving kid he'd ever met.  David said Allie "adored" both of her adoptive parents and never gave them any trouble.  Allie went to a college which was just a few hours drive from home.  The relationship between Allie and Jack and Kathy seemed perfect.

That's why David was both stunned and shocked several months prior to Allie's May 2022 graduation when Jack bluntly told him he'd given Allie an ultimatum.  Within three months of her graduation, she had to secure a good professional job at least two hundred miles from home, and move out!  Jack explained to David that when he turned age eighteen, he enlisted in the Army.  He made his own way from that moment on.  

"No one babied me." said Jack.  "I've been totally on my own ever since.  I've become very successful.  I'm a self made man.  You don't grow up by living with Mommy and Daddy and working at McDonald's part time till you're twenty-seven.  You spread your wings when school ends and you fly."

In May of 2022, Allie graduated from college.  She worked a job as an administrative assistant at a local company for a couple of months, but she feverishly searched for a job in the field she'd trained for.  Amazingly, she landed a position in California.  It was about eight hundred miles from Seattle.  Jack took some time off in August of 2022.  Jack rented a truck and moved Allie to her new residence.  Obviously I'm skipping a lot of details.  David told me the trip as meticulously planned, at least as Jack described it.  An additional bit of information is that Kathy wasn't entirely onboard with Jack's plan but did not object to it, either.

During the first couple of months, Jack gave David glowing reports of how well Allie was doing and how great all of this was.  Somewhere around May of 2023 disaster struck!  Allie contacted her parents.  She hated her job.  She hated her life.  She was not doing well.  At the very least, she needed some serious counseling.  More likely, she was about to experience a complete mental breakdown and hospitalization.

Thank God, Jack did not tell Allie to sink or swim!  He ended up taking more time off from work, driving to California and moving Allie back to their home in suburban Seattle.

Allie "recovered" pretty well.  Today she has a job in her field in Washington State.  She's living on her own, about seventy miles from her parents.  She and her parents have a reasonably good relationship.

I share this story because I think a lot can be learned from it!

Parents so often expect their kids to be just like them, or to follow a life path that they set.   Sometimes that works.  Many times it doesn't.  We are all very different people.  I have three grown kids.  All very much have their own personalities and their own likes, dislikes and hopes and dreams.  My own father was very good in athletics and very mechanically inclined.  I was neither!  At times that did cause problems in our relationship.  One of my three kids is a minister, my daughter Amy.  She's also a Nurse Practitioner.  But I never pushed any of my kids to become ministers or even to go to a Christian college.  

The Bible verse I opened with may not seem at all applicable.  In fact, it's very applicable!  Just because you think something's a great idea - that doesn't mean it's a great idea!

What do you think?  I'd love to receive your feedback.

"Woke Jesus" is a "MUST watch"!

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8)

I suspect that unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past several years, or that you almost never go online, you're very familiar with The Babylon Bee.  I've gotta tell ya, I love The Babylon Bee.  Admittedly, I was that kid in high school who devoured every issue of MAD Magazine.  And, over fifty years later, I still love great satire!  The folks who produce and distribute The Babylon Bee are pretty much all evangelical Christians.  But before you judge or stereotype them, let me say, they're equal opportunity satirists!  That's what makes the satire so good.  I've got a hard cover book put out by The Babylon Bee that my son gave me a couple of years ago.  It's a satire of evangelical Christian Discipleship books, and no kidding, it trashes "praise the Lord and pass the buck" televangelists who prey on the poor and little old ladies... who promote becoming filthy rich by almost any means, and who have nothing but disdain for hard working, humble, kind, generous, and sacrificial Christians.  And when it comes to politics, sure The Babylon Bee leans Right, but both the Right and the Left are fair game for their satire.

This week they released a short and potentially explosive video entitled "Woke Jesus".  It presents the "Jesus" of both the political left and religious left.  That is, a politically correct, Marxist, revolutionary, secular, inclusive, diverse, highly pro-LGBTQ, highly pro-reproductive rights, entitled, loving and yet hateful, unbiblical, anti-Christian Jesus.  

"They covered all that in just a few minutes?!"

Actually, they DID!

A friend of mine recently put something on Facebook saying he no longer likes the religious saying from the 1990s "W.W.J.D." - That is "What Would Jesus Do?"  It comes from Charles Sheldon's nineteenth century novel, "In His Steps".  That's a good book.  And the idea of asking "What Would Jesus Do?" prior to making any major decision is a great idea.  But my friend Brian doesn't like that saying anymore because the Jesus many of today's people are thinking about when they ask "W.W.J.D." is not the Jesus of the Bible.  It's the Jesus The Babylon Bee presented this week.

I have some very WOKE friends and relatives who argue they admire and act like the real Jesus.  That Jesus is actually the Jesus which the "Woke Jesus" video illustrates.  I challenge such people to slowly read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John over maybe four or five months.  Discover the Biblical Jesus.  And, sometimes the Biblical Jesus will make you uncomfortable.  He makes me uncomfortable.  In Mark chapter 7, for instance, Jesus is rather rude to a foreign woman.  He essentially calls her a "dog".  He says he hasn't come to minister to people like her, or her daughter who is demon possessed - that he's come to minister to Jews.  Now, the daughter is healed and set free of the demon.  And he does give the woman what she wants; but it's one difficult portion of Scripture!  Another tough portion of the Bible is Luke chapter 16 verses 1-13 and especially verse 8.  That's the Parable of the Unjust Steward.  For years, I would not preach on that Parable.  It commends a shrewd guy who is an embezzler, a liar, and a manipulator.  Honestly, it sounds like something Donald Trump would praise.  But it's said by the Biblical Jesus.  It took me years to truly understand that parable.  The point of it is that although the steward is a horrible person, he does know how to make the most of people and opportunities available to him.  And many times, godly Christian people don't know how to do that.  Finally, there's John chapter 2 verses 13-16 where Jesus makes a whip and goes after the moneychangers in the Temple, flipping over their tables and driving them out.  Sometimes we tell people they should have a "Christlike attitude".  So what do we do with that one?  

My main point is the Jesus of the Bible is nothing like the "Woke Jesus"!  But if you think I'm being blasphemous and trashing Jesus, I'm not!  The story of Jesus is summed up in John 3:16.  No one ever loved you or me like Jesus.  He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross.  In fact, the physical suffering Jesus endured is a cake-walk compared to the spiritual suffering he endured for you and for me.

Watch "Woke Jesus".  If you do a Search for it online, you should find it easily. Then, if you've never done so, take a few weeks and slowly read through all four gospels.  And pray, "Jesus, please reveal yourself to me!"

He will!

And I'd love to have you share the link to this post.  I think this is one of the most important things I've ever written!