“And what was the purpose of your travel today?” “Oh, we just walked across the bridge to do a little shopping in Mexico.” I was comfortable and relaxed talking to the Border Patrol. “Took a cab over to Rancho El Rey for dinner. You ever been there?” “Okay, sir,” he ignored my question. “Now ifContinue reading “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse. Leviticus 4:2.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
Meat, Salt, Perfection. Leviticus 1:9.
Image created with A.I. (they are getting better quickly!). Last week I met my buddies Paul and Chris for lunch at Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant. After I had dutifully chosen something with the word ‘vegetable’ in the name, Paul suggested the three of us share an order of beef fajitas for two. It was Paul’sContinue reading “Meat, Salt, Perfection. Leviticus 1:9.”
Reverse Engineering a Look at the Sacrifices. Exodus 29:1.
Orville Wright famously skipped kindergarten and spent a day hiding in a barn, where he took a sewing machine apart and then put it back together. Why? To figure out how it worked. In other words, a very young Orville Wright, one of the inventors of the airplane, was able to intuit a process weContinue reading “Reverse Engineering a Look at the Sacrifices. Exodus 29:1.”
There is a Role For You in God’s Kingdom. Exodus 31:1-5.
Image: Spatter paint technique on a painting designed to look like red brick. From https://worldbydesign.blogspot.com/2014/05/spatter-is-magical-visual-texture.html Have you ever been embarrassed by a photograph? When I was a little boy, someone snapped a photo of me backstage at Jones Hall. I was about eight years old. I was in costume, makeup included, and while waiting toContinue reading “There is a Role For You in God’s Kingdom. Exodus 31:1-5.”
Draw Up the Blueprints: Jesus is Not Only the Lamb, Jesus is the Temple. Exodus 27.
Have you ever read the Bible with graph paper and a pencil? Try it! There are many places in the Old Testament where the Bible provides so much information that with just a little attention to detail, you can produce drawings to scale. For example, call each line segment one cubit. Then count ten linesContinue reading “Draw Up the Blueprints: Jesus is Not Only the Lamb, Jesus is the Temple. Exodus 27.”
Governing With Humility. Exodus 18:17.
Image: Moses’s father-in-law Jethro, as portrayed in the film THE PRINCE OF EGYPT. “And I’ll take it to the Supreme Court if I have to!” shouts Maury Stokis, pointing his cane in the face of Perry White. Maury and his wife win a free trip to South America from the newspaper THE DAILY PLANET, butContinue reading “Governing With Humility. Exodus 18:17.”
God Sends His Recruits to Boot Camp. Exodus 14:11.
Image: Paratroopers from the 11th Airborne division training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in the early 1950s. My father could be in this picture. From https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/18zacz8/11th_airborne_paratroopers_jump_training_in_fort/ “Where do you think you’re going, Wales!” The sergeant screamed at my dad, a young recruit in basic training. The men were inside a gas chamber. The rule was, theContinue reading “God Sends His Recruits to Boot Camp. Exodus 14:11.”
Favor Has Been Uncoupled From Merit. Exodus 11:3.
Image: a close-up view of a train coupler connecting two cars. I knocked on the white painted door of my girlfriend’s apartment. No one knew I was coming. One of Wendy’s roommates opened the door. It was Charlotte. She was the loud one. She screamed. “Well, hello, Mr. Successful!” Charlotte was an opera student, oneContinue reading “Favor Has Been Uncoupled From Merit. Exodus 11:3.”
Odors and Aromas. Exodus 5:21.
“Oh, man! What is that smell?” “I think it’s that dead armadillo we saw down the road.” “But that thing’s a hundred yards away!” “What else can it be?” We had just emerged from the car at my uncle’s farm in Mississippi. All the kids piled out of the car and two of us tookContinue reading “Odors and Aromas. Exodus 5:21.”
God Hears. Psalm 120:1.
Image: the square in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. “Marisela, listen to me. I understand that you left your homework at home. I get it. But I’m required to take points off for late assignments.” I was a first-year English teacher. Marisela was a sophomore in a border town. I had been hired to replace aContinue reading “God Hears. Psalm 120:1.”
Household Words: 