I just thought I'd stop for a moment to recount one of the more amusing episodes of my week. Somewhere after 9 or 10 PM tonight, my wife put on The Santa Clause 3 for my kids to watch. I considered myself done with that franchise after the second movie, so I decided to sit and read Josephus. I'm not reading the complete, five or so volume set. A friend loaned me an edition called "Josephus, the Essential Works". It's a modern translation that attempts to convey the most relevant parts of Josephus. The translator omitted some extraneous material and duplicated writings, and the book is probably written on a sixth-grade level. In any case, it's enough to get me off the ground with this essential historian.
My kids decided to climb up on the chair with me. Caleb, my two-year old, was about ready to fall asleep so he curled up on my right side where he did eventually succumb to sleepiness rather than stay up until midnight. Joshua, my three-year old, took the book from my hands and started flipping through it. He saw some pictures and started asking questions. I would answer "Oh, that's the Cave of Machpelah", or "That's Herod's Palace" or "That's Herod's Temple". Suddenly, while looking at a picture of Jerusalem, he asked where the choo-choos were. I tried to explain that Josephus wrote a good 1800 years before the choo-choo was invented, with the minor exception of some early steam engine technology by engineers in ancient Alexandria. He became obsessed with finding Thomas the Tank Engine within the confines of Josephus.
I found that highly amusing and thought I would share it. Forgive the sloppy editing, but I'm up way past my bedtime, and I have partaken of some New Year's Eve refreshments.
Happy New Year!
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