August 10-Gen. 37, Mt. 14:22-31
Joseph (see Janzen) does not get the attention he may once had. Genesis is all about family dynamics and they reach another peak in this story of a blended family and its brothers. From the beginning the family of Abraham played favorites and did not seem to learn about the trouble it causes. Conflict occurred with multiple wives, but jacob has four.Joseph is the favored son of the favored wife. Favoritism is symbolized by the famous coat of many colors (Dolly Parton’s takeoff on it) but it could just as well be an ornamented coat, or long-sleeved but a garment fit for royalty. Like many favored people he has a bit of the narcissist in him, and fails to realize that his dream of others paying him obeisance might not be a wise move.You can tell that this is a story also of inter-tribal rivalry as favoritism rarely leads to a murder plot even among siblings, although one can feel murder in the air in the midst of teen siblings at times.Further, we have the impact of the children of Israel selling one of their own into slavery in Egypt. Further, family deception continues. Jacob the old schemer is tricked by a device similar to his deception of his father, but this time it is about the death of his beloved son. Jacob carries a terrible grief and cannot share it with the child’s mother as she died in childbirth with his brother.This is some serious sibling rivalry they can speak to him without bile rising in their throat. So when he is to inquire of their welfare, they cannot resist acts against his peace and well-being.Judah is the minor focus of the story as he has displeased Jacob and now a young family usurper rises.
Increase-he has a surplus of attention and favoritism. After all, he and his full brother have lost their mother rachel, the favored wife.
Maybe Joseph thought he could walk on water. I heard a story about a female cleric who went fishing with the new male elders. She left her bait on the dock, so she walked on the lake to retrieve. The elder said, isn't that just like a woman, forgetting her bi ait on the dock.The walk on the water. may be how we could well view family relations as being as hazardous as walking on the water instead of seeing them as being within the relative safety of the boat itself.
the very water is against them, and the waves are battering even torturing the boat and its crew. Remember most of these folks fish for a living. the a pre-Easter phantasm appears on the water. when he returns Peter, they worship.
I think few biblical stories have one and only one point. here, i would add to the usual one that goes roughly:keep your eye on jesus and you can do anything. Here I would argue that in the midst of a tough going stay in the boat. don't go searching for visions all on your own or you will be in danger of sinking.Jacob predicts that he will drown in mourning and grief. I wonder if the brothers of Joseph were drowning in guilt?
Human beings do not flourish in chaos. I realize that the business books equate chaos with change and the opportunity to try something different. That in itself is the opening for different organization and action, but ti is still finding a path through or out of the chaos. I think of the youngsters who are anxious for school to start for it is the only place in their lives where some orfer, and regularity, including getting meals, exists. Healthy patterns for relationships create people able to deal with chaos.
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