I asked a teacher what her ultimate goals were for her students. Her response was to teach them the difference between their and there and the knowledge when to use each. Facetious! I’m not a grammartarian. If it were not for my wife, her sister, Martha and Kim, my books would read like they had been written with a large crayon. (You know! That might explain….) This, like all of my blogs, is: edit it yourself.
My first editor was Miss Marian Smith. She is many years retired. Her family was in the missionary business. She taught English and shared Jesus for years on the mission field. She served in many of the cities and countries now often in the news. She came home to become a magazine editor and office manager. (A comma belongs somewhere in that sentence.) She has been my cheerleader. She liked blue pencils. She would send my letters back with grammatical errors circled with her blue editing pencil. She was not malicious. She came to the end of one of my manuscripts and wondered what I wanted her to do with the five-gallon bucket full of extra commas.
Acknowledging my lack of expertise, I am annoyed when people don’t get Jesus right. A preacher, who I think should know better, spoke about “Jesus’s.” He wouldn’t spell it that way, but that is how he vocalizes it. How about Jesuses? No, that is plural. Isn’t it? How do you spell the possessive? I’m committed to Jesus’.
Thinking about last Lord’s Day. We listened to five hours of preaching. It was a rather barren morning. Not much touched me. Maybe I wasn’t paying close attention. However, I was and am, impacted by the possessive. I belong to Jesus. I am one of Jesus’ tribe.
A song is in my head today. I can hear a Texas singer singing…
Now I belong to Jesus
Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone
But for eternity.
(Norman J. Clayton)
My connection is with Him who says, “He’s one of mine. He’s with me.”
©2015 D. Dean Benton http://www.bentonministries.com
Writer, Wonderer, Belonger
Benton Quest House 