Joel 1:1-13 (Today’s reading from the Book of Common Prayer, which was the reading yesterday from the Presbyterian and Lutheran Books of Worship)

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

Lament over the Ruin of the Country (Ex 10.1-20)

2 Hear this, O elders,

give ear, all inhabitants of the land!

Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children another generation.

4 What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;

and wail, all you wine-drinkers,

over the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,

powerful and innumerable;

its teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste my vines,

and splintered my fig trees;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches have turned white.

8 Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth

for the husband of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the LORD.

The priests mourn,

the ministers of the LORD.

10 The fields are devastated,

the ground mourns;

for the grain is destroyed,

the wine dries up,

the oil fails.

11 Be dismayed, you farmers,

wail, you vinedressers,

over the wheat and the barley;

for the crops of the field are ruined.

12 The vine withers,

the fig tree droops.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple-

all the trees of the field are dried up;

surely, joy withers away

among the people.

A Call to Repentance and Prayer

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;

wail, you ministers of the altar.

Come, pass the night in sackcloth,

you ministers of my God!

Grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God. (Joel 1:1-13, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated from yesterday (November 9, 2008, the Sunday closest to November 9,Year Two) when Joel 1:1-13 was the reading from the Presbyterian and Lutheran Books of Worship. As noted there, they were repeated from November 12, 2006 (The Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost, refs. for the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), when comments were repeated with revision from November 8, 2004, (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two).

Little is known about Joel apart from his name, a common name which means “the same as that of Elijah, (‘My God is Yah [the LORD]’), but the elements are reversed” (Richard A. Henshaw, HarperCollins Study Bible, 1^st ed., 1993, Introduction to Joel). According to Gregory Mobley, “From his [Joel’s] book, it appears that he lived in Judah during the Persian period (539-331 BCE). Carl-A. Keller questions the later dating of Joel by some,

Most scholars think that he lived in the middle of the fourth century BCE, but their arguments are open to criticism. The following observations point to a date shortly before 600. Israel, the northern kingdom, has disappeared, but Judah and Jerusalem still exist (3:1): this detail agrees with the situation of the seventh century BCE. . . . The absence of an allusion to the king is not surprising, as there are many oracles which do not mention a king. . . . On the other hand, 3:1-8 offers arguments which suggest the end of the seventh century (between 630 and 600). During the final years of the seventh century, the declining power of the Assyrians encouraged the small states along the Mediterranean coast, Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistine towns, to join hands in order to make incursions into Judaean territory, to carry away whatever they found and to sell the booty, including men, women, and children, to the Greeks (3:4-6). . . . the language of the book is a final and decisive argument in favour of an early date. It is throughout classical, living, pre-exilic Hebrew. (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 579, in the Introduction to Joel).

Joel describes a plague of locusts (Joel 1:1-13) that is echoed in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 9:1-12) and reminds us of the eighth plague on the Egyptians (Ex. 10:1-20). He addresses the “elders” (Joel 1:2a) asking, “Has such a thing happened in your days, / or in the days of your ancestors?” (v. 2b, c). The event is a story for children and grandchildren (v. 3). The devastation in the wake of the invading army of locusts is severe. “What the cutting locust left, / the swarming locust has eaten. / What the swarming locust left, / the hopping locust has eaten, / and what the hopping locust left, / the destroying locust has eaten” (v. 4). Joel’s hearers are addressed as drunkards and wine-drinkers, and told to “weep and wail . . . over the sweet wine, / for it is cut off from your mouth” (v. 5). The picture of an invading army with “lions’ teeth” and “the fangs of a lioness” (Joel 1:6) graphically portrays a real locust plague. “Palestine is in the path of locust movements that have occurred throughout history up to the present day. If they move by migration, they originate in the Sudan, move up through northeast Africa, through the Arabah, and into the Levant” (Henshaw, loc. cit.).

The invading locusts have “Laid waste my vines, / and splintered my fig trees,” stripping the bark and turning the branches white (v. 7). The people are called to lament “like a virgin dressed in sackcloth” would lament “for the husband of her youth” (v. 8). The devastation prevents the people from bringing the “grain offering and the “drink offering” to “the house of the LORD” (v. 9), for there is no grain or wine to offer since “the fields are devastated,” and “the ground mourns (v. 10). According to Mobley, “Grain and drink offerings accompanied sacrifices (see, e.g., Num. 29:12-16)” (op. cit., on Joel 1:9). The farmers and vinedressers are told to “be dismayed,” and “wail,” for the ruin of their crops (v. 11). It’s not only grain and wine that are lost, for “the fig tree droops, / Pomegranate, palm, and apple–all the trees of the field are dried up,” and the people’s joy “withers away” (v. 12). The priests are called upon to “put on sackcloth and lament,” to “wail,” to “pass the night in sackcloth” because of the absence of the grain offering and drink offering (v. 13). “Without grain and drink,” says Mobley, “a vital meditation, the daily offering is imperiled” (op. cit., on v. 13).

It seems that a real locust attack is described with the metaphor of an invading army, which anticipates Joel’s interpretation of the locusts as God’s judgment on “the day of the LORD” (1:15; 2:1) and his call for repentance (1:13). In Revelation, it’s still a reference to locusts (Rev. 9:1-12), but it has been called a “plague of demonic locusts, which combine the terrors of evil spirits and of invading horsemen (probably Parthians)” (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Rev. 9:1-12). It becomes a symbolic picture of God’s judgment.

Joel 1:1-13 (above) or Joel 1:15-2:2 (below), (Presbyterian and Lutheran references for today)

15 Alas for the day!

For the day of the LORD is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

16 Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17 The seed shrivels under the clods,

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are ruined

because the grain has failed.

18 How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle wander about

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep are dazed.

19 To you, O LORD, I cry.

For fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

and flames have burned

all the trees of the field.

20 Even the wild animals cry to you

because the watercourses are dried up,

and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near-

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness spread upon the mountains

a great and powerful army comes;

their like has never been from of old,

nor will be again after them

in ages to come. (Joel 1:15-2:2, NRSV)

On November 13, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from November 9, 2004, (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two). The revised comments are repeated here:

In the earlier reading, the people have been called upon to lament the effects of the devastating famine. “Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth / for the husband of her youth” (Zeph. 1:8). The farmers and winedressers are told to “be dismayed,” and to “wail” over their ruined crops (v. 11). Joel now gives the devastation a label; he announces the judgment of “the day of the LORD” (Joel 1:15; 2:1). R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Brueggemann say, “This calamitous day portends the final day of the LORD which comes as destruction from the Almighty (Zeph. 1:14-18)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 2001, on Joel 1:15). They call the continued description of the disastrous effects of the locust invasion a “lament” (on 1:15-20 over what seems to be the result of the locust invasion. "Is not the food cut off before our eyes / joy and gladness from the house of our God?” (Joel 1:16). “The seed shrivels . . . the storehouses are desolate; / the granaries are ruined / because the grain has failed" (v. 17). The animals suffer. “How the animals groan! / The herds of cattle wander about / because there is no pasture for them; / even the flocks of sheep are dazed” (v. 18).

The prophet himself voices lament. “To you, O LORD, I cry. / For fire has devoured / the pastures of the wilderness, / and flames have burned / all the trees of the field” (v. 19. This devastation affects even the wild animals (v. 20). So he renews the call to sound the alarm for lamenting and repenting as the catastrophe approaches. “Blow the trumpet in Zion; / sound the alarm on my holy mountain! (2:1a, b). According to Hicks and Brueggemann “The priests blow the ram’s horn (‘shofar’) to warn of the immediate danger (Hos. 5:8; Am. 3:6; Zeph. 1:16; Rev. 8:6-13)” (ibid., on 2:1). The people are to tremble, “for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near” (v. 1c, d). Joel describes the coming day of the LORD as “a day of darkness and gloom, / a day of clouds and thick darkness!” (v. 2a, b). “Like blackness spread upon the mountains,” he says, “a great and powerful army comes” like nothing else past or future (v. 2c, d, e, f, g). As tomorrow’s reading will indicate, the locusts “have the appearance of horses,” that is, like charging “war horses” (2:4). But the devastation is understood as judgment (cf. 2:11)

Revelation 18:15-24

15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16 “Alas, alas, the great city,

clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

“What city was like the great city?”

19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.

20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.”

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“With such violence Babylon the great city

will be thrown down,

and will be found no more;

22 and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters

will be heard in you no more;

and an artisan of any trade

will be found in you no more;

and the sound of the millstone

will be heard in you no more;

23 and the light of a lamp

will shine in you no more;

and the voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more;

for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,

and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

24 And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.” (Revelation 18:15-24, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of November 13, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), when comments were combined from November 8, 2004 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and from comments on Revelation 18:21-24 from November 9, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One). They are also based on relevant comments from November 13 and 14, 2007 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), when the readings were Revelation 18:9-20, and vv. 21-24, respectively.

Today’s reading from Revelation (18:15-24) continues the description of the downfall of Babylon (i.e. Rome). Earlier, one of the angels shows John “the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters” (Rev. 17:1), that is, “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations” (v. 5). “As we noted, “Babylon” is a kind of code for Rome. Later, another angel announces the fall of “Babylon”: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (18:2b). His voice, and those that follow (cf. vv. 4, 9, 11, 15, 17, 21) present what Bruce M. Metzger has called a “dirge over the fallen city” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Rev. 18:1-24). And the dirge moves on to the lament of “the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her (i.e. with “Babylon” = Rome), who have lamented her downfall (vv. 9-10). And the lament continues by “the merchants of the earth” whose treasures are not purchased (vv. 11-13), so that it is said of them, “The fruit for which your soul longed / has gone from you, / and all your dainties and your splendor / are lost to you, / never to be found again” (v. 14).

Today’s reading continues with the lament of “the merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her,” but no “will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud” (v. 15). “Alas, alas, the great city,” they say, “clothed in fine linen, / in purple and scarlet, / adorned with gold, / with jewels, and with pearls!” (v. 16). Their dismay is summed up: “For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!” (v. 17a). And then we hear from those on whom the merchants themselves had to depend. “And all the shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the see, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, ‘What city was like the great city?’ ” (vv. 17b, 18). With typical signs of mourning, “they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, ‘Alas, alas, the great city, / where all who had ships at sea / grew rich by her wealth! / For in one hour she has been laid waste’ ” (v. 19). In the Roman empire, the city of Rome was fed by the grain of Egypt and the produce of other provinces. But the city that has enriched the kings, merchants and mariners, has been the enemy of the followers of Christ, and so a voice from heaven says, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her” (v. 20).

John tells us that an angel takes up a stone like a great millstone, which is “thrown into the sea [which] symbolizes Rome’s downfall (adapted from Jer. 51:63-64)” (D. E. Aune, HarperCollins Study Bible, 1993, on Rev. 18:21). The poetic lines which follow announce that the music of celebration, harpists, minstrels, flutists and trumpeters, will be silent, and artisans will not be found (Rev. 18:22). Lamp light will be gone, as will “the voice of bridegroom and bride” (v. 23a). The city is accused of having merchants who dominated the world’s commerce; they “were the magnates of the earth,” and they deceived the nations “by your sorcery” (v. 23b). John's final indictment comes in verse 24: “And in you (‘Gk. her,’ NRSV text note a) was found the blood of the prophets and of saints, / and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.” According to Aune, “The martyrs' prayer is answered (see 6:10)” (op. cit., on v. 20).

This critique of “Babylon” and prediction of her fall may, by analogy, apply to cities and corporate structures that defy God’s righteousness and turn themselves into machines for the oppression and destruction of human life. But it is set in the context of the ultimate struggle between the powers of light and the powers of darkness which, though we customarily refer them to the end of time, were rearing their ugly heads in the late first century of the Christian era. The technologies available to the powers of darkness now, unfortunately, have grown considerably more dangerous in our time.

Should we who live in a world of consumer goods undreamed of even by the Roman elite take something of a warning from this indictment for their fixation on such luxuries? The good life with its amenities is not a bad thing in and of itself, but it becomes deadly when it is gained at the expense of oppressed peoples, slaves and working conditions that border on slavery. The God who pronounced such judgment on the ancient “Babylon” still lives, and is still in control, even in an age of modern Babylons.

Luke 14:12-24

Teaching on Humility

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

The Parable of the Great Dinner (Matthew 22:1-14)

15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, "Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" 16 Then Jesus said to him, "Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.' 19 Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.' 20 Another said, 'I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' 22 And the slave said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' 23 Then the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner’.”

This reading from Luke and the parallel passage in Matthew on the Parable of the Great Dinner are presented in the following table.

Recent comments on these passages from the perspective of Matthew’s version may be found in the Archive for July 3, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two). The following comments are repeated from November 11, 2007 (the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One), when comments were based on those of November 6, 2005 (the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One), and of November 13, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), when comments were used from November 8, 2004, (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and from May 21, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to May 18, Year One):

Luke presents a paragraph of Jesus’ teaching on humility (Lk. 14:7-14) which has no parallel passage in the other Gospels except for a brief saying, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12; cf. Lk. 18:14). His remarks about humility and hospitality (Lk. 14:7-11) lead to advice about inviting people to a banquet. He tells his host to give banquets for “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (Lk. 14:13), rather than for “your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors” (v. 12). The principle is giving with no expectation of reciprocation, not giving “in case they may invite you in return” (v. 12). There are a few churches in Houston that take this advice literally, maintaining food pantries, some even feeding “street people” regularly on Sunday. “And you will be blessed,” says Jesus, “because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (v. 14).

The occasion for this teaching is a meal in the home of “a leader of the Pharisees” (v. 1). “One of the dinner guests,” says Luke, “on hearing this [i.e., this teaching on humility and generosity], said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God’ ” (v. 15). This guest apparently expects to have the blessing of sharing in the “eschatological banquet.” Jesus responds with the “parable” of the great dinner, and the reasons or excuses given by many for not coming.

The setting in Matthew is different, more confrontational, one might say, than the setting in Luke. In any event, Matthew has no reference to Jesus being a dinner guest in the home of a Pharisee. After Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-9; Mk. 11:1-10; Lk. 19:28-40), Matthew follows Mark for the most part in presenting what is mainly a series of Jesus’ confrontations with the Jewish leaders: (Mt. 21:10-22:46; cf. Mk. 11:11-12:37; Lk. 19:45-20:44). Within this series, the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mt. 21:33-46; Mk. 12:1-12; Lk. 20:9-19) stands out, as clearly indicting the Jewish leadership. But Matthew adds two parables that have parallels earlier in Luke, the Parable of the Two Sons (Mt. 21:28-32; cf. Lk. 7:29-30) and the Parable of the Great Supper (Mt. 22:1-14; Lk. 14:15-24). Compare Kurt Aland’s outline of “the Final Ministry [of Jesus] in Jerusalem” (Synopsis of the Four Gospels, rev. printing, 1985, p. 351). “Once more,” says Matthew, “Jesus spoke to them in parables” (Mt. 22:1).

According to Luke, Jesus responds to the Pharisee’s dinner guest by introducing the parable. “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now’ ” (Lk. 14:16-17). In Matthew, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son” (Mt. 22:2). We may compare Luke’s “dinner guest,” who blesses “anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Lk. 14:15), and other references to the “eschatological banquet” such as “the Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:6-10). According to Matthew’s version, the king “sent his slaves [plural] to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet (v. 3a). In both accounts the response is similar. Those first invited refuse to come, presenting excuses. In Luke’s version the excuses of three persons are presented. “The first [one invited] said to him [i.e., the slave who brought the invitation], ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets’ ” (Lk. 14:18). “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets’ ” (v. 18). Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come’ ” (v. 19). These excuses bear a striking resemblance to the three excuses for not following Jesus presented earlier (Lk. 9:57-62; Mt. 8:18-22). And the point here as there is surely the supreme importance of the kingdom of God. On that occasion, Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:62).

In Matthew, the excuses are abbreviated, but a sinister note appears. The first people invited “would not come” (Mt. 22:3b). When the invitation to them is repeated (v. 4), “they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them” (vv. 5-6). We can hardly miss the clear reference, as Matthew the evangelist reflects upon the final days before the crucifixion of Jesus, to the part the Jewish leadership played in his indictment and execution, as also in the preceding Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mt. 21:33-46; Mk. 12:1-12; Lk. 20:9-19). The one who gave the invitation is angered by the refusal, and appears to act out of spite. Luke says that “the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame’ ” (Lk. 14:22). When that is done and room remains (v. 23), the slave is ordered to “'Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner” (vv. 23b, 24).

In Matthew’s version of the parable, if those invited responded with violence, the king retaliates in kind, and more so. “The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city” (Mt. 22:7). Again, we can hardly miss the clear reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the war of AD 66-70 (cf. J. Andrew Overman, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mt. 22:7). And, upon the king’s orders, the slaves “went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests” (v. 10).

Matthew’s version of the parable adds a scene where one who accepted the invitation and came was excluded for “not wearing a wedding robe” (Mt. 22:11). The king challenged him: “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” says Matthew, adding that the man “was speechless,” that is, he failed to respond (v. 12). So, the king orders the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 13). “This,” according to Overman, “may originally have been a separate parable dealing with preparedness, like the parables of judgment in chs 24-25. Otherwise, given the way in which the substitute guests have been gathered (vv. 9-10), this guest’s lack of a wedding robe would be surprising” (ibid., on Mt. 22:11-13). Overman adds that “outer darkness . . . weeping . . . gnashing of teeth [are] images of hell (1 Enoch 9-10).

We may say that both versions of the parable put an emphasis on responding to God's invitation, but the incident of the guest who lacked the wedding robe (Mt. 22:11-14) focuses on the need to be worthy of entering the kingdom, whereas Luke's parable illustrates the instruction about hospitality. Both themes call for our serious consideration. We may take courage from the fact that those excluded from the banquet were not merely overlooked. There was a conscious rejection of the invitation on the part of those who did not come, but the invitation was thrown open to “everyone” (Mt. 22:9), to “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” (Lk. 14:21). Most of us are probably “crippled” in one way or another, but we are all invited.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net