Guess Again

 

This book is made for the movies.  It will make a great action-packed film. The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton is fun to read. It is definitely action-packed. I can picture this in a movie. It is so fast-moving that I can't tell you the literary quality of it because I was turning the pages too fast to see what was next and to judge.

The story begins with President Duncan in front of Congress answering their questions like we see people do for Congressional hearings. The representatives want the president to explain why he's telephoning jihadists. President Duncan won't answer. Then come to find out, what we've been reading wasn't real. It was a practice before the president goes before the representatives.

That's a taste for what you think is coming, it doesn't. What happened to the president? Is he hiding so he doesn't have to testify? Was he kidnapped? Did his blood disease render him incapacitated and he's in the hospital? Where did he go?

There's an assassin. Is she after the president? Will the assassin get caught?

There's a traitor. It's one of six people. Whom do you think it is?

I'm not spoiling this fun, fast-paced novel. Enjoy.

Deja Vu

 A friend and I exchange magazines.  She knows I like "The Bible Today."  While cleaning her bookcase, she found a year of "The Bible Today."  The year is 2001.  I started reading the January/February 2001 issue.  In the article, "Prophet or Magician?", by Michael S. Moore, a sentence hit me right between the eyes.

... Why do we sometimes have to deal with unexpected crises when it looks like we've finally made it out of "the wilderness?"  Why do our marriages sometimes hit bottom just when we thought that everything was working out? Why do our parishes sometimes get hit with every conceivable problem (natural disaster, war, moral rebellion, sexual scandal, economic downturns, immigration problems, etc.) just when things are starting to turn around?  Why do we have to go through an embarrassing presidential impeachment just when the economy is doing so well and prosperity is abundant?

2001, the president was Bill Clinton.  Today the president being impeached is Donald Trump.

While the sentence is noteworthy, I hope we don't lose the lesson the article is teaching.  The article is about the soothsayer King Balak hired.  His name is Balaam.  Balaam was hired to put a curse on the Israelites traveling across the desert.  Moses and the Israelites had fled the Egyptians and in making their way across the desert were mowing down all that was in their way. King Balak was nervous that his kingdom would be next.  Hence, he hired Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites.

It wasn't easy.  In fact, Balaam failed.  He tried twice.  But Balaam is a believer.  He realizes that Israel's God is the true God.

Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times. (Num 24:1)  Sometimes we have to fail a few times before we realize that what we are doing isn't God's Will.  Then we have to have a "tete a tete" with God.  We have to discern and see what is going on, not with our own eyes but with others.  Perhaps, now, as then, it's best to just move on.

Cyber Threat to the Country

A few days ago I spent on a visit to the hospital.  It took the whole entire day.  While there, I read a 513-page book, The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson.  Yes, that's Bill Clinton the former president and James Patterson, the award-winning mystery writer.

The white house descriptions and the interaction between the people who surround the president, obviously are Clinton's contribution.  The suspense I give credit to Patterson.  It is a page-turner.  I didn't want to do anything else but find out what was going on in the book.

There's a real cyber threat to the country.  Everything will shut down.  Think about it, e.i., hospitals, financial institutions, etc.  The country couldn't function.  We would be open to military attack.  The story is the race to figure out how to stop it.  To complicate matters, the president is sick and his health is fading fast.

I've already said, I couldn't put the book down.  It's a page-turner.