The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
August 17, 2008
Vol. 11 no. 32

Everything But...
           The beginning game is being called for darkness. Not really, but today is the last Sunday of Genesis readings for this year’s Lectionary, and it ends with a bang, sort of. The scene of revelation between Joseph and his brothers fulfills a long story of twists and turns.
           Naturally, the Lectionary readings count on the fact that you know all those twists and turns. But even for a pretty Biblically literate person it is remarkably easy to have some of those turns twisted around in your mind, and even to omit one. The human mind can only handle a certain portion at any one time, so we start with Joseph’s final triumph and have someone else fill us in about the defeats. It starts and finishes with dreams.
           As Joseph’s brothers cower before him, knowing the unspeakable wrong they had perpetrated upon him and also sensing the unparalleled power he now possessed, what Joseph now saw was his original dreams having come true. The sun and moon and the eleven stars - his father, mother, and eleven brothers - are bowing down to him as their lord. If that is everyone’s dream - to be the ruler over everyone else - we are all in trouble. But Joseph’s dream was about how he would save the lives of many other people from starvation.
           Along the way there was Potiphar and his spouse, prison time, more dreams and prophecies that came true. Twice he was perilously close to death, but he survived and rose again to accomplish something remarkable. While the name of God rarely escapes Joseph’s lips, God is with him steadily. You might say the way this was a story of Joseph’s destiny. But what was his destiny - to save millions of lives from famine or to reconcile with his brothers? Or are the two the same?