I wrote the August issue of God’s Word Today – it’s on 1 & 2 Samuel. When I told Michael what the topic was, he looked at me as if I were crazy, and even more so when I expressed my enthusiasm. (This was last September). I love 1 & 2 Samuel, and always have. Loved teaching it. It’s like a novel, for pete’s sake – the depth of psychological insight is startling, the complexity intriguing, and to me, proof positive that the whole thing is true. Odd, isn’t it? But really – if you were fabricating a religion from scratch, would you make up such often ambiguous stories …a people really in a tug-of-war with their God about leadership and national identity. A prophet who seems to make mistakes. A first king who goes round the bend. A second king who…does all sorts of things. His children – a total mess.

It was a pleasure to write, even as I was doing so (when I finally got to it) with a tiny new baby. I got my copies today so subscribers will probably  be getting theirs soon.

Catholic publishing geeks might be interested in the Bayard masthead on the site. Bayard is a French Catholic publisher that has been buying up American Catholic properties over the past few years, making it the largest Catholic publisher in the world (which it may have been before anyway – I don’t know.)