Paved With Good Intentions

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know what is "paved with good intentions"?

If you, in your life, have ever encountered . . .

• a Sunday School teacher, or
• a parent born during the "can do" Twentieth Century, or
• a sanctimonious preacher, or
• a book of well-known quotations, or
• anyone disappointed when you have not followed through on a project,

 . . . then you have heard - 

 

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"

 

 This comes to mind for me (and, I suspect for anyone with a Blog) when I look again at the woeful publishing history of this site.  Having said that, my most recent "paving stone" is to publish on Thursdays, by hook or crook.  Stay tuned to see if this happens or if it just becomes part of a new On Ramp for the nether regions.

As a preview (and to put a little pressure on yours truly), let me announce the theme for next week:

"How Did He Know?"

That posting is intended (ooh, that's a dangerous word) as a look "behind the scenes" at an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees in the 19th chapter of Luke.  In this account of the Triumphal Entry, Jesus' disciples begin to "... rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, saying 'Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord.  Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest.'"

 

When this happens, some Pharisees who are part of the multitude ask Jesus to "rebuke" his disciples (in modern parlance, 'tell them to shut up!').  That's when Jesus makes his memorable reply:

"I tell you, if these are silent,

the very stones will cry out."

That's an intriguing image.  Once when I was working on learning this story, the thought came to my mind that maybe he had actually had that happen before - which led me to working on a story called "How Did He Know?"  The story is intended as a kind of Midrash on Luke 19.  A Midrash, as I understand it, is part of a long (mostly, but not exclusively Jewish) tradition of fiction which expands & expounds on Scripture by using imagination to think about stories from Scripture.

 

Since I have no (paying) Editors to give me publishing deadlines, I'm giving myself one, by way of the Leaving Nadderby blog.  Check back - God-willing you should at least find the first installment right here - in the words of my generation: 'same time, same station'.

 

If you do not find it here by then, you have my permission to mutter and complain.

 

Where else are you going to find a deal like that?

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[A little more about Midrash, if you have never encountered that before (or even if you have), can be found at White Fire: The Art of Writing Midrash - by Alicia Ostriker - interesting reading.]