She Who Must Be Loved

My wife returned home last night from her weekend trip to see her mother in Illinois. It was her mother's birthday his past Sunday, and also she and her siblings had a gravesite remembrance service for her older sister that died this past May. It is amazing how we grow so much closer together almost unconsciously, I truly missed just her presence being near me. IN many ways I guess the old saying has some merit, "absence makes the heart grow fonder!" Well, she's home and she's safe and I'm again returning to normal.

On another note, this weekend [friday through sunday] it will be men's camping retreat. There is something wonderfully primal about a group of men camping out by a river, reminicing about how the 2 inch blue gill that got away fought like a 12lb bass; how a harmless garder snake encounter turned into an escape from a killer-rattler; and how the eyes of a deer at night surely must have been the face of a fabled grizzly loose in the area; how the eery sound of an owl was surely proof of a cougar straying just a little too close to camp for comfort; and how often food that normally would be viewed as commonplace takes on the aroma and taste of absolute grill glory. Can't wait, only 4 1/2 days.

I've been watching a new series on the History channel; 'The Clash of the Gods' and it has captured my attention. I'm thinking about writing an extensive paper on how these Greek myths are proof that while God was chosing Israel to be the nation to eventually take his salvation gospel, through Jesus Christ, to the world .... God was also working through gentile cultures and their stories of myth to prepare them. I don't think I'm that far off, surely Plato, Aristole and the other gentile philosophers didn't come up with their edgy [nearly divine] thoughts on their own; and Paul's encounter with the scholars on Mars Hill [Acts 17:16-34] leads me to the audacity to think Paul might be cheering me on. The first episode about Zeus, the primary God, was extremely interesting and I gained many thoughts about the compatibility, rather than conflict of mythology and the gospel [especially the gospel of Mark]; and this last segment on Hercules had so many things that could relate to God's son Jesus Christ. I'm so excited by this possibility, but don't be hesitant to disagree with me, I welcome that also. I'm including a history channel schedule just in case you're interested - watch it with an open mind!
Zeus - 8/3 [that's his picture in article]
Hercules - 8/10 [second statue; note the lion skin over him]
Odyssey [1] - 8/17
Odyssey [2] -8/24
Hades - 8/31
Medina - 9/7
Thor - 9/14
Lord of the Rings - 9/21
Minotaur - 9/28
Beowulf - 10/5
If you miss these shows you can see reruns on Sunday nights @11PM [which is when I usually view them].

Well, I best close and get some work done today.