SSS: Overwrite, or Why You’ll See Less Posting

So this one’s not going to be a teachable moment or an opinion piece. Instead, I’m going to give a bit of an update on my life and the future state of this blog.

When I started Shed the Sunday School Glasses back in January, I already had two months of content written. I had spent weeks before January 1 researching ideas, putting posts together, and coming up with fancy or creative angles on familiar stories. I said to myself, “I can easily keep up a post a week. Sometimes two. If I can do it during school, I can do it when I start working too.”

This was also a period of experimenting for me. I was trying to decide exactly what I wanted these stories to look like. Would they have third person narrations with a witty narrator who points out the ridiculous details of a story (like in the Jonah stories)? Would they be written from the perspective of a major or minor character, looking into how culture affects what they thought (like the three Ruth stories)? How would I balance writing from the Old and New Testaments when the Old has far more stories, but the New has Jesus, whom the entire Bible is about?

Any of you who have stuck with me the last seven-ish months will know that I’ve gone back and forth stylistically, and with the exception of the month on Peter, most of my focus has landed in the Old Testament, but hopefully with some aspect that points back to Jesus. As for the posts I’ve most enjoyed, it’s definitely been those written from the perspective of a specific character.

Maybe that’s me wanting to develop my characterization skills as a writer. Maybe it’s part of my hope deep down that one day I can write for TV or something. I’m not really sure, but I do know that one of my favourite posts to date has been Balaam’s donkey, told from the donkey’s perspective. It’s one of those weird, crazy ideas that I think turned out really good. And it’s for these reasons that I’ve kept on writing and posting as frequently as I have.

But by the time I hit the end of the spring semester in April, I had used up my two month buffer. Readings and assignments for my Masters made it difficult to keep producing new posts. I always figured I wouldn’t stay two months ahead, but I had hoped I could keep up a buffer of at least a couple weeks.

So I tried that for a bit. When I returned to school in May, I had about three weeks of content ready, and I intended to keep it that way. That didn’t last long. By the time I finished my course six weeks later, I had lost my buffer again.

Since then, I’ve basically been writing week to week. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – I know writers who do that all the time – but I’ve always been one who wants to keep a little ahead. But mix that with a regular part time writing gig that I took on last month and a new part time job I started this week, and what was already a difficult pace for me to keep up has just become much harder. I’ve kept my deadlines so far, both work related and self-imposed, but I sometimes wonder at what cost.

I love this project. I’ve always been fascinated by stories told from an unusual perspective or that highlight unusual details. And I still believe shedding your Sunday school glasses is a valuable storytelling strategy.

But lately, I don’t think I’ve been doing that here. My focus has been on my new jobs, and rightly so, but these have received the majority of my mental power. This has left me trying to pump out new posts for this blog as fast as I possibly can in the little free time I’ve had with whatever energy I have left after already writing all day.

As a result, I haven’t been reading the Bible as closely as I would like when prepping these stories. I haven’t been looking for those unique details that we often overlook. I’ve been taking a character’s perspective and running with it, but the result has often been posts that aren’t all that different from what you might usually get in Sunday school.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with that per se, but that’s never been the goal. And to continue writing as I have, pumping out mentally drained content for the sake of it instead of actually caring about the project or the purpose behind, will only frustrate me.

SO… Effective today, I’ll be taking a break from Shed the Sunday School Glasses. You will not see me posting much between now and at least early October. I may throw a one-off in there if I’m feeling particularly interested one day, but right now I need to focus on my other projects.

When I do come back to this, and I really hope I can, my posting schedule will probably look different. I’m thinking 2-3 posts a month instead of 5-6, but even that might be pushing it. A lot will depend on work situations and figuring out how much time I have to devote to this project again.

Thank you to all of you who have checked these stories out each week, who’ve complimented me on my writing and the truth that’s been highlighted, and who’ve liked or favourited my Facebook posts and tweets. You’ve been a great encouragement to me, especially as I’ve been working through this decision. I really do hope I can come back soon.

Until then, keep shedding your Sunday school glasses. Keep rediscovering the wonder in those familiar Sunday school stories. Keep being willing to read Scripture through a fresh set of eyes. And keep being amazed by our God.

All the best,

~Brentagious

Genesis 42-45 - Reconciliation

We have a long story to cover today, so let’s just jump right in. We’re finishing off the story of Joseph this week. We’re going to hear about what happened after he became the second-in-command in Egypt as well as what happened to Joseph’s brothers. And just to see how much has changed since a few years ago, we’re going to hear the story from Joseph’s own mouth!

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Welcome my friends. Welcome, and may God bless you. I am Joseph, commander of Pharaoh’s resources and distributer of Egypt’s wealth. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Maybe, but I know that none of this is my doing. I would never have been here today if it had been up to me, but God had other plans. Good plans. I realize now they were good plans.

You might remember my brothers. Reuben and Simeon and Judah and the rest. They hated me when I was a child and sent me off packing to Egypt. I blamed them at the time. I was angry and hurt and couldn’t understand why God would allow such a thing to happen. Even after finding a happy home with Potiphar or working here, there were times I was angry.

But in time, God has brought me peace. I see now that God had a plan bigger than my pain or my problems. God sent me here to Egypt to prepare for one of the worst famines the world has ever seen! In His mercy, God chose to use me to save many lives. Not just Egyptian lives, but others as well.

I never imagined this would include my brothers. It seems the famine was just as bad back home as it was in Egypt. I had long since made peace with God, but I will admit that my anger threatened to come back when the ten of them walked into the markets requesting food. But they are my brothers, and despite everything that has happened, I still love them. So I immediately had them sent for.

I’ll never forget their faces as they walked into the palace. There was a mix of shock and reverence. They immediately bowed to me, and I couldn’t help but think of those dreams I had all those years ago. My brothers didn’t recognize me, but I knew them well. And I decided to test them. I wanted to see if they were sorry for how they had treated me, if they felt any remorse at all. I would still have given them food – God would not have liked it if I returned evil for evil – but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to reveal myself yet. How was I to know if they still hated me?

I called them spies and threatened them with prison, demanding that they tell me their story. They told me they were twelve brothers. One had stayed at home, while one brother was gone they said. They did not elaborate, but I could see hurt in their eyes. But I needed more proof.

So I made a plan. I locked them up for three days, after which I told them that if they wanted to assure me they were not spies (and come back to buy more food), they would have to return home and bring their youngest brother, Benjamin, back with them. And just to make sure they understood I was serious, I told them they would have to leave one of them behind in my prisons.

Wide-eyed, they all started talking amongst themselves. “God is surely punishing us because of our brother,” they said. “We saw how upset he was when he begged us to let him live. But we wouldn’t listen. That’s why all this trouble has come to us.” (Genesis 42:24, NIrV).

Then Reuben spoke up and said, “I told you! I told you we shouldn’t sin against Joseph, but you all just had to let your anger get the better of you!”

I left the room as they continued to mourn and argue. I started crying, possibly more than I’ve ever cried in my life. Yes, even more than when my brothers first got rid of me. They regretted what they had done. They realized what they had done was wrong and they lived with that pain constantly. I wanted to go out and reveal myself right then, but for some reason I knew I had to wait. I wanted to see if they were truly sorry.

They left Simeon with me and went home. But what they didn’t know was that I had put all of the money they paid for their food back in their bags. I’m sure they were afraid when they opened the sacks. They already thought I was angry, but now they were probably terrified they would be killed for stealing if they ever returned to Egypt.

My father was heartbroken when he learned that Simeon had been made a prisoner in Egypt. This made him even less willing to send Benjamin back to Egypt, and my brothers were too scared to return without him. But as days turned to weeks and their food supplies ran low, even my father realized they had no choice but to go back again. So, very unwillingly, he sent all of his sons off to Egypt.

When my brothers returned, they brought with them the money from their previous visit as well as money to pay for new grain. I told my guards not to give them trouble but to invite them back to my home. When I saw Benjamin, I hurried away and cried once again. This was Benjamin, my youngest brother! When I came back, I released Simeon. I asked them all about home and father. They spoke openly, glad that I was not angry.

But my scheme was not done yet. I knew my father would not have parted with Benjamin willingly, and I had to see if my other brothers had learned anything. So I filled their sacks with food once again. Then I put all the money from both trips in their bags. And I told my guards to place my silver cup in Benjamin’s bag. They knew nothing of this as I sent them away once again.

Shortly after, I told my guards to bring my brothers back and accuse them of stealing. My brothers were shocked. They knew they had done nothing wrong, so they told the guard that if any of them had the cup, they would all become Egyptian slaves.

The guard searched each bag one by one until he came to Benjamin’s bag. He found the cup there, of course. My brothers were terrified. They looked at Benjamin angrily, but the look on his face proved he had no idea how it got there.

I’m sure they felt awful as the guard brought them back to my palace. They had no idea how to explain what had happened. I put on a tough guy act and yelled at them for trying to trick me. That’s when Judah spoke up.

“We have nothing to say to you, sir,” Judah said. “We have no excuses and no way to prove we haven’t done anything wrong. God has shown we are guilty, and we will now be your slaves, as promised.”

“Come now,” Joseph replied, “You did as you said. You brought your brother to Egypt and proved yourself honest. I will only make a slave of the one who had the cup. The rest of you may return home in peace.”

Judah was silent for a moment. Tears filled his eyes. He approached me. The guards grew tense and lowered their spears, but I waved them off. “Please,” Judah said, falling to his knees before me. “I beg you sir, do not do this. I told you before of how much my father loves Benjamin and how difficult it would be to bring our youngest brother back, but you insisted. You said the only way we could receive food again and prove we weren’t spies was if we brought Benjamin back.

“It took us weeks to convince our father to let Benjamin come, and even then he almost refused. But the only reason our father allowed Benjamin to go was because I promised no harm would come to him. I promised. If we go back home without Benjamin… I’m not sure our dad will be able to take it.

“So please, let Benjamin go. Let me take his place. I will be your slave, I will do whatever you ask. But let the boy return with his brothers. I can’t bear to see my father suffer again.”

My face was blank. They truly were sorry. And Judah, the one who had come up with the idea to get rid of me… Judah was a changed man. God had shown him that his actions were wrong, and Judah would never do something so horrible again.

It was time. I turned to the main guard and spoke as calmly as I could, “Have everyone but these men leave me.” The guards looked confused, but they knew better than to disobey. As soon as the last soldier left the room, I burst into tears. I’m pretty sure even the people outside heard me.

“Brothers,” I said, “It is I, Joseph!”

They stood there with eyes wide, mouths open, tears coming to their eyes too. “Joseph?” Reuben finally said.

“Yes,” I said in-between sobs. “I am your brother. Don’t be upset. Don’t be afraid or angry. I don’t hold your deeds against you and you are long since forgiven. God sent me ahead of you to save many lives. What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”

My brothers were a little nervous at first, but slowly they came near and hugged me. They realized I meant what I said. I was no longer angry and had forgiven them. But still, they apologized. They said they were sorry they had ever done something so terrible to me. And honestly, it took them quite a while before they stopped being scared I would try to get back at them.

But that thought never even crossed my mind. I was reunited with my brothers, and I couldn’t have been happier. Well, that’s almost true. The happiest moment came a few weeks later. My brothers went home and told dad all about what had happened. And then they brought him to Egypt. There were a lot more tears when we first saw each other, but I didn’t care. I was reunited with my family!

I meant what I said too about God taking what was meant for evil and making it good. Because of Him, Egypt was saved. And in His timing, He changed all of our hearts and brought us back together. And for that, I will praise Him the rest of my days!

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There are many dark and difficult parts about Joseph’s story, but the ending is one of Scripture’s most triumphant moments. After all of the pain and misery Joseph had gone through, and all of the guilt his brothers must have felt, they were finally reunited. And I firmly believe the reason for this was not their own doing. Joseph and his brothers let God change each of their hearts, and because of that, they had their relationship with each other restored!

And that’s our lesson for this week: A changed heart leads to reconciliation. Reconciliation is one of those big Bible words that means restoring the relationship between two people. Because Joseph and his brothers had had their hearts changed by God, they were able and willing to forgive each other and work to fix that relationship.

But this isn’t the only place we see reconciliation in the Bible. Just like Judah offered to take Benjamin’s place, Jesus actually took our place when he died for us on the cross. But when we believed that Jesus died and came back to life, He changes our hearts so that we can be reconciled with God. He fixes the broken relationship we had with God so that we can love and serve Him properly again.

A changed heart leads to reconciliation. This is true not only of our relationships with others but also our relationships with God. So I hope you’ll think on this. Joseph’s story is a tough one, but it’s also a great one – one that shows us what it means to trust God to do what’s best and to bring about reconciliation in our lives!

~Brentagious

Genesis 40-41 - Dreamers

Some of you out in Internet-land have probably had some pretty strange dreams. My weirdest one was the time where there was a giant apartment building coming out of my school. For some reason, my school was located in an amusement park during this dream, and the apartment building wasn’t totally finished yet. There were large metal beams all over the place, but no building. And my cat was there, jumping around the unfinished building.

Do I have any idea what that dream was about? No. I’m not even sure that dream was about anything at all. But in the Bible, there are lots of times where people’s dreams meant something. These dreams would tell people what was going to happen in the future. And one of the people who dealt with these kinds of dreams a lot was Joseph.

We’ve already heard about some of Joseph’s dreams a few weeks ago, and we’ll come back to them again next week. But for right now, I want to tell you about some other dreams that Joseph was involved with. Only this time, Joseph didn’t have the dreams himself. No, now Joseph was the dream interpreter.

It’s a good thing too, because if Joseph hadn’t been there to interpret those dreams, things could have gone really badly in Egypt. But thankfully, God made sure Joseph was exactly where he needed to be to help make things better.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and listen to a story from Dedu. At least, that’s what I’m calling him. The Bible doesn’t give us a name for this guy, but I want to call him something! We’re catching up with Dedu in Pharaoh’s throne room.

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“Can’t anyone tell me anything about my dreams?” That’s all we’d been hearing from Pharaoh all morning. And Pharaoh was only getting more and more worried. “You’ve all been staring at books and mumbling to each other for hours now. You’re telling me that nobody knows anything about my dream!”

Honestly, I was kind of relieved I wasn’t in their shoes at that moment. I know what it’s like to be on Pharaoh’s bad side, and I wanted no part of this dream fiasco.

The name’s Dedu. I serve as Pharaoh’s cupbearer My job is literally to pick up his cup, bring it over to him, and then let him drink from it. Kind of a weird job, I know, but it pays the bills.

Of course, there’s one part of the job I’m not a huge fan of. I also have to taste the wine in Pharaoh’s cup before I give it to him. Don’t get me wrong, Pharaoh always gets the best tasting wine, and it’s kind of nice that I get the first sip. But the whole point of me tasting that wine is to see if it’s poisoned. Occupational hazard I guess – Taste good wine, but might be throwing up in a bathroom for the next week or worse because of it.

Anyways, I really messed up one day. I was walking along, carrying Pharaoh’s cup to him as always, when I tripped. There wasn’t even anything on the ground – I just stepped wrong. But when I tripped, Pharaoh’s cup went flying. And all the wine spilled right on Pharaoh himself!

The guards immediately lowered their spears like they were ready to fight. Pharaoh was silent for a moment, just staring at the wine dripping down his chest. Then he had me arrested… I thought I was going to die that day, but Pharaoh just locked me up and forgot about me.

How’d I get back? Funny story actually! You see, there was this guy in the prisons…. Wait, that’s it! Hold on, this will only take a second.

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Dedu: “My king!”

Pharaoh: “What is it, cupbearer?”

Dedu: “I know someone who can tell you what your dream means!”

Pharaoh: “Well cupbearer, where is he?”

Dedu: “Pharaoh, I want you to think back a few years. There was once a time you were angry with your servant. You threw me in prison and your baker right after.

We thought we were gonners. We were terrified that you would come any day to have us killed, but you didn’t. Then, one night, the baker and I each had dreams. Neither of us knew what they meant, and we were scared.

But there’s a man in the prisons named Joseph. He’s one of the kindest men and most incredible workers I’ve ever met. Joseph was a prisoner too, but it didn’t seem like it. Joseph always did what was right, and he was so well liked that the jailer even put Joseph in charge of the prison.

Anyways, Joseph came over the next morning and asked why we looked so upset. So we told him our stories. And then we said that we’ve each had dreams and don’t have anyone around to tell us what they mean.

Then Joseph said something I’ll never forget. ‘Only God knows what dreams mean. Tell me your dreams.’ (Genesis 40:8).

So I did. I had dreamed there was a vine in front of me. And as I walked past the vine, it grew three branches and flowers and grapes all over the place. And then I squeezed these grapes into your cup to make you wine.

There was barely a pause before Joseph told me what the dream meant. He said the three branches were three days, and just liked I’d poured wine into your cup in my dream, you were going to come in three days, take me out of prison, and let me be your cupbearer again in real life!

The baker was super excited. He thought his dream would have a good meaning too, so he asked Joseph what his dream meant. He had dreamt that he had three baskets of bread on his head, and then crows came to eat the bread.

‘So what does it mean?’ he said! ‘Are the crows Pharaoh? Am I getting my job back too?’

Joseph paused longer after this dream and said, ‘I’m sorry, baker, but your dream is not so fortunate. The three baskets are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will come and execute you. I’m sorry.’

The baker just stared at Joseph. Then he got mad and threw his shoe at Joseph. ‘Bah, what do you know!’ the baker cried. ‘These were just dreams!’

But they weren’t just dreams, Pharaoh. Three days later, exactly like Joseph had said, you sent some servants down to the prison. These servants told us that you wanted me back to serve as your cupbearer. But some other servants came over and took the baker away. You executed him that night but restored me to my job. Just like Joseph said.

I’ve been a terrible friend. I promised Joseph I would tell you about him and help him get out of prison. Joseph is a good man. He’s never done anything wrong, I promise you. Invite Joseph to your throne room. He can tell you what your dreams mean!”

Pharaoh: (Small pause). “Guards! Bring this Joseph to me immediately!”

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The guards went to get Joseph, and let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. I could only hope that Joseph could still interpret dreams. And that he would forgive me for forgetting about him for so long. Otherwise, I might have ended up back in prison!

It always amazes me. A man like Joseph didn’t seem like he belonged in prison. I had heard his story – how Potiphar’s wife had lied about him – but Joseph never seemed angry about it. I’m sure he had his moments, but whenever we asked him about it, Joseph just said that he trusted God and was thankful he could do God’s work wherever God placed him.

I didn’t understand that. Not even sure I do now. But let me tell you, Joseph’s God seems to have some sort of greater plan going on. Because when Joseph came to tell Pharaoh about his dream, I don’t think any of us expected what happened next.

Joseph walked into the throne room. His beard was longer than I remembered – I guess two years in prison will do that to you. He looked good, though. Confident, and yet humble. He bowed to Pharaoh, who then said, “I hear from Dedu here that you can interpret dreams. Is this true?”

I blushed for a moment, knowing how long it had taken me to remember Joseph. But then Joseph said, “I can’t do it…” My eyes widened. I nearly gave myself up to the guards right then and there, but then Joseph said, “…But God will give Pharaoh the answer he wants.”

Pharaoh raised his eyebrow and smiled a little, but said, “Oh, really? Then listen to my dream.”

I’m going to summarize, because this is a long one. But basically, Pharaoh had two dreams. In the first one, there were these seven fat cows standing on the bank of the Nile River. That’s that big river we have here in Egypt. Anyways, these cows were looking good, but then suddenly seven skinny, sick looking cows came over and swallowed up the fat cows! And the skinny cows looked just as skinny and sick looking as before.

In the other dream, there were seven grain plants. And again, these grain plants were strong and looked good to eat. But then all of a sudden seven gross and dry looking plants grew up beside them. And these swallowed up the seven good heads!

I know Joseph. These other advisors might have been stumped, but Joseph and his God would know how to interpret his dream. And Joseph didn’t disappoint.

“Pharaoh,” Joseph began, “your dreams are the same! God has shown you what he is about to do. The seven good cows and the seven good grain plants mean that there will be seven years of plenty in Egypt. Seven years where the crops will grow well, people will be fed, and everyone will be happy. But the seven skinny cows and the seven gross plants also mean seven years. After those seven years of plenty, there will be seven years of famine. There won’t be any rain for seven years! The plants won’t grow and people will always be hungry. This famine will be so bad, that nobody in Egypt will even remember the seven good years before them.

“But do not worry, my Pharaoh! God has given you these dreams so that you can be prepared. You should choose people to be in charge of the land. Have them put aside some of the food for the next seven years. Count it up and put it away so that when the famine comes, the country won’t be destroyed. At least we’ll have food to feed everyone!”

The entire room was silent. Some of the advisors looked at Joseph angrily, jealous that he had given the answer they could not figure out. The smug look on Pharaoh’s face had quickly turned to wonder and then to worry as Joseph had been talking. He stood up, and everybody in the room looked at him eagerly.

“You speak rightly, Joseph,” Pharaoh said finally. “But where can we find someone we can trust to do this job?” The room exploded into murmurs and mumbles, but finally Pharaoh said above the noise, “God has made all this known to you. No one is as wise and understanding as you are. You will be in charge of my palace. All my people must obey your orders. I will be greater than you only because I’m the one who sits on the throne” (Genesis 41:39-40).

We were all in shock. Joseph was going to be in charge of Egypt? Joseph was going to be Pharaoh second in command? This Hebrew slave? This prisoner?

And yet, Joseph went on to be one of the best rulers of Egypt I’ve ever heard of. Joseph built massive storehouses and made sure all the food was stored properly. It was a huge job, and it took a lot of time and work, but when the famine came seven years later, all of us were fed.

I don’t know much about Joseph’s God, but He obviously knew what He was doing with Joseph. Joseph was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. And because of that, because God sent Joseph to us to save me, my family, and my country, I’m grateful to Joseph’s God!

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What always amazes me, guys, is how Joseph’s story turns around. Joseph’s life looked like it could only get worse. Sold into slavery by his brothers, arrested for something he didn’t do. But even though these situations sucked, and I’m sure there were days Joseph was confused and angry, Joseph ultimately trusted God. And he did this because Joseph understood our lesson for today.

God’s plan is bigger than the bad things that happen to us. We aren’t always going to understand why God makes us go through difficult things. We aren’t always going to understand why family members get sick or why friends move away or why our parents lose their jobs. But we can learn from Joseph’s story that even when things seem like they’re falling apart, God has a plan. And like Joseph, you never know how God will use you in these difficult times to do something absolutely amazing!

So trust God. He loves you, He cares for you, and even when it seems like things are going wrong, He is with you. He wants to help us get through these tough times and to use us to do amazing things in those tough times! All He asks is that we trust Him.

As for next week, we’ll be finishing off Joseph’s story and finding out what happened to Joseph’s brothers. You’ll want to be back here for this one. It’s pretty amazing!

~Brentagious