Editorial October 28, 1991 Issue

To choose to think as free men and women

Michael D. Rissler

When I was a youngster in Sunday School, certain Bible stories were as much a part of my week as baseball in the summer and basketball in the winter. David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, Joseph and his coat of many colors were a few. Jesus and his great deeds were central, of course. Often it was the most colorful parts of these stories that captured my interest. As I grew up, some of the details and implications of Bible stories became more important and clearer to me.

Samson—to take one of those stories—is certainly a figure for modern times. He was a powerful man, so powerful he killed a young lion with his bare hands. I wouldn't be surprised if kids today compared him to Conan the Barbarian!

Samson was someone who went after what he wanted. He wasn't hesitant to go to war to get it. After fighting, he would name the place of the battle and then give thanks to God for victory. Whether God was truly behind all his victories or sanctioned his methods was another question! Samson in the Old Testament book of Judges seems like an ancient legend, and the past is probably where the story would stay if it didn't teach such a powerful moral lesson in the midst of the lusty living and violent conflict in the world today.

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