Steven Wales

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.”

God’s Court is a Court of Equity. Psalm 98:9

Professor John Mixon standing in front of some of the cartoons that he used while teaching classes at the UH Law Center. He retired in 2013 after a 60-year career as a law professor. I was scribbling notes as fast as I could—like eighty of my law-school peers. Suddenly, the professor tossed out one ofContinue reading “God’s Court is a Court of Equity. Psalm 98:9”

Nothing is Really That Remote. Psalm 89.

Statue of Liberty During Pink Sunrise. Copyright Matthew Chimera Photo. Prints available online. “I can’t believe it. I mean, there she is! It’s really her!” My wife was so excited. We were bouncing gently on the bow of a Circle Line Tour boat in New York Harbor. Everyone around us had camera phones pointing atContinue reading “Nothing is Really That Remote. Psalm 89.”

Barking Dogs. Psalm 59.

“Daddy, I can’t sleep. The dogs won’t stop barking!” my drowsy daughter said. “I’ll take care of it.” I sighed. I was quickly growing tired of this. I stepped into my boots, went outside, turned on the water hose, and began spraying. The neighbor dogs took off running. But we had been doing this forContinue reading “Barking Dogs. Psalm 59.”

Do You Have a Target on Your Back? Psalm 54.

Image: an alley in the Old City of Jerusalem off Lion’s Gate street. Notice how time has worn down the ancient stone steps. Little David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons, a nobody from a nobody-family. Then one day the prophet Samuel came to the home. Samuel instructed Jesse to round up his sons,Continue reading “Do You Have a Target on Your Back? Psalm 54.”

Eliphaz Reports a Vision. Job 4:12-21.

What if you could travel back in time thousands of years. It is 2000 B.C.–that’s 2,000 years before Christ. Five men of God are sitting around a fire talking. Let’s imagine they conveniently happen to be speaking English (a language that will not be invented for 3,000 years!). The men in robes invite you toContinue reading “Eliphaz Reports a Vision. Job 4:12-21.”