The New American Revolution & Jael's Story

Last night a major storm blew through and over us. We were very blessed to miss the worst of it, but we kept the news on until late to keep an eye on things. Mia became frightened of all the thunder and lightning and started to cry. At first, I tried to calm her down in her bed, but then I remembered how my mom and dad used to take me into their bed during storms when I was frightened. Most nights if I woke up from a nightmare, I crawled in next to Mom and snuggled close to her, but on nights with thunderstorms, Dad took me in next to him. And Dad being Dad, of course, he didn't try to calm me with images of angels bowling. Dad told me about Thor and his hammer Mjolnir and six-legged goats racing across the sky. While the thunder boomed and lightning crashed, Dad told me stories of Norse mythology with Tyr and Odin. Somehow those stories cured my fear of storms and created a bond between Dad and I. And not just a father/daughter bond, but a love for storms that as I grew older had us sitting outside watching the sky light up together. Even in the midst of my awful teenage years, I still remember sitting on the front porch step watching the clouds roll in while Dad tried to drink his coffee before the wind blew it right out of the cup. While I didn't tell Mia about Thor last night, she did calm down in bed by us, and maybe next time the thunder booms, I'll tell her it's just Thor hammering with Mjolnir in the mines.

The New American Revolution by Tammy Bruce is another of her well-written political books. Tammy doesn't seem like someone I would normally read, but I've really come to respect her point of view and stances on issues. Probably because she respects mine. She doesn't call names or scream invective, and in a true break from conservative books of this vein, she offers solutions. Bruce's main point is that we need to embrace our individualism and hang on to our beliefs despite the Left's frequent attempts to remove our identity. She includes addresses, phone numbers, and websites to use as well as steps we can take to let the media, businesses, and our politicians know how we feel. The book takes a few chapters to get rolling, but once it does, it will definitely inspire thought and possibly action, which is what Bruce really wants.

Jael's Story by Ann Burton is the Old Testament story from the book of Judges about a Kenite woman who uses a mallet and tent peg to kill Sisera the captain of the Canaanite charioteers. That's really all we know about Jael from the Bible. The story is told twice, once in prose, once in Deborah's song as poetry. The story of Jael has always fascinated me, so as soon as I heard about this book, I had to read it. Burton does a great job of describing life in a tent community using authentic language to add to the atmosphere. In Burton's book, Jael is a young Canaanite woman married to brutish Kenite with another wife and concubine. One thing that really stands out about the book is that Burton does not portray the Canaanites as evil or immoral as often happens in Biblical fiction. All of the characters (except perhaps Heber and Sisera) are portrayed as true people with merits and flaws. The only time the book didn't flow well was during the one scene that we have the most information about. When Jael picks up the mallet and tent peg to strike Sisera, the story kind of jerks along until the scene is over and then flows back into a smooth narrative. So the one thing we know to be true about Jael is the one thing that doesn't fit into Burton's story, and the mystery of Jael continues.

Thank you for your prayers; Mom called last night. Dotty has regained at least some of her sight. We don't know just how much yet, but she recognizes them and can see at least a little. Praise God! It's going to be another hot one today. I don't normally complain about the weather; that would be foolish, I live in Wisconsin, but this summer has just been too hot. I'm currently reading Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith. Perhaps I can bring some of Edinburgh's weather here while I read it.