I just read the story of David and Bathsheba.  Whoever wrote it did a magnificent job, what with the example of the pet ewe.  David’s causing Bathsheba to commit adultery pales in comparison to Nathan’s use of the ewe to play Bathsheba’s part in order to get David to understand what he has done.

Nathan is an example of an excellent preacher who brings home his topic in a humanistic way.  David sees his wife stealing in a touching way.  His severe remorse makes way for his forgiveness.  But there are consequences.  That is the story of sin, down through the ages.

If I forget to ask, my blogs usually sound uninspired.  But the ideas flow to me more easily if I first ask the Holy Spirit for some inspiration.  If I don’t, the results are more variable.

Ask and you shall receive.  It’s a promise from the Redeemer.  And I have hewed to it for as long as I have had the use of reason.  Of course, it helps if you have a familiarity with the Bible or the New Testament.  Then your brain is ready to pick up where you left off.

Some arousing thoughts are usually available, and to pick up there is usually a good start for an opener.  Of course, some experience writing helps.

Will the real Vladimir Putin step forward please?  I heard parts of his October speech to the Russian people, in which he supported good family life and religion, decried American black and white racism, and admitted the Bolsheviks (revolutionaries) were one-minded Leftists.  It sounded like a Conservative speech, but remember, this was for the Russian people.

If only this were a part of Putin.  President Trump said he was a killer.  Well, Trump knew him better than I, but I keep hoping Putin is partly what he says.  Maybe he’ll withdraw from the Ukraine and give the world some peace.

Complicated as the man probably is, he was designed by God, and at least has the capacity for good.  But he also has free will, and that can mean a tendency for evil.

What?  She died?  Sometimes someone’s death is a shock, but sometimes you feel it’s about time.  I was not sorry to see Senator Harry Reid go; he was too much for the things I’m against.  But then again, he may have been for things I’m for, like the USA.

We all die sometime, but we wonder why God picks some of his prime crop to go so soon.  Can’t we have them around for a while?  Some of them have such lively and joyful personalities.

But there’s no contradicting the word of God.  His say is final.  And though he defers to the choice of humans, as in war, we believe in the finality of providence; after all, “Thy will be done.”  I just need to see the justice behind it all.

We wait for a better day.  Living unselfishly, that is, for the Lord or neighbors, demands tedium or suffering, and so that better day seems inviting.  There’s the adventure of it all.  Going out of your way to show a teen-ager that sharing his cannabis with a classmate not only doesn’t do the classmate a favor, but may affect him badly for the rest of his life, puts you in an awkward position, and makes everybody feel bad.  But a bad position to gain life everlasting (that’s what you’re giving the kid) is a bargain.

If you’re a kid among equals, that makes you unpopular.  And they know how to rub it in.  What’s another cold day in winter?  The winter of life?  You’ll be moving on to another class or another job soon.