

There is a story told about Jesus interviewing people at the gate to Heaven. He comes across a man who might be Joseph, who is elderly, failing eyesight and hearing and understanding. Jesus asks him if there is anything Joseph left behind. Joseph replied there was a beautiful boy who had wisdom beyond his years, and yet was childlike. He had nails in his hands and feet. Jesus looked significantly at Joseph, and Joseph looked back, and then asked "Pinocchio?"
It is said that all writing is rewriting. And so the story of Pinocchio has tensions mirroring the Christ story. Pinocchio goes to hell, and is reborn as a good boy. Literary analysts connect this progression with Homer's Odyssey. Pinocchio wants to be a real boy. Christ was God made a real person. And so the joke laughingly suggests the true story of Christ is the fantasy of Pinocchio, but highlights the truth that all writing is rewriting.
There is no escaping God. God has forgiven all of us. Not that God approves of sin, but that God has made a way by which we can be with Him even though we are sinful. We are often, for a time, captured by our memory. We have made choices which don't include God. And every bad choice we make makes it harder to make a good one. The Devil points to our past and tells us that there is no way God can accept us. But we know the Devil's future. And we don't have to share it. Even though we have a past.
addendum, the detail in this missive is personal. I'm not betraying any trust, but many might feel I'm being fast and loose. I don't write about my family because family is separate from my mission, for many bad reasons. I have written a little of my mother and father, but nothing of my living siblings and very little about my sister Pamela, who died on Feb 14th 1978, when I was 11 years old. Feb 14th 1978 was when I first dreamt of meeting God. I am in poor health and could reasonably expect to die in the next few years. The explosive nature of some of what I have written in the past is likely to allow sibling rivals to mischaracterise what I have written on mission. I have done no wrong, no outrage of public decency. I'm very conscious that my step mother is failing in her duty to protect my father's legacy. I cannot protect my self and him at the same time. She is his advocate. He is a great man whose life work in education greatly enriched humanity. I was estranged from him at birth, when he named me 'o'DDBall and at the end of his life, with my last words to him being a sarcastic "Stay in touch, don't be a stranger." I won't explain why. It has nothing to do with my mission.
David Daniel Ball
26th July 2021
AUAWN0726321
storiesthatheal.blogspot.com/2016/07/forgotten-forgiveness.html
https://rumble.com/vkbyiz-faith-exploration-on-forgotten-forgiveness.html
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
The Ballad of David Ball
[Verse 1]
In New York City, '67, a child was born so bold,
David Ball, with dreams afire, where Sesame Street was told.
His father shaped young minds at Columbia's hall so grand,
Till the '70s called them homeward to Sydney's distant land.
[Chorus]
Oh, sing of David Ball, with a heart both strong and true,
From classroom tales to whistle’s call, his spirit breaking through.
With pen in hand and faith so deep, he writes through joy and pain,
A voice for justice, loud and clear, in every sweet refrain.
[Verse 2]
Self-taught he read by Sydney's shore, with numbers as his guide,
A math teacher in the tough schools, where hope and youth ...
This is edited to correct obvious mistakes
David Daniel Ball (born January 10, 1967, in New York City) is an Australian writer, conservative blogger, political activist, and former high school mathematics teacher. As the younger brother of cognitive scientist John Samuel Ball, David has carved a distinct path in education, advocacy, and self-publishing, often focusing on social justice, child protection, history, and Christian devotionals. His life story intertwines family intellectual heritage with personal campaigns against institutional failures in child welfare.
David was born in Manhattan during his father Samuel Ball's (1933–2009) tenure as an educational psychologist at Teachers College, Columbia University. Samuel, an Australian academic, contributed to early evaluations of Sesame Street through his work at the Educational Testing Service (ETS), assessing the show's impact on children's learning from 1963 onward. The family, including elder brother John (born 1963 in Iowa), relocated to ...
I invite you with: "Right now, let's respond by seeking Him first. If you're carrying worries, lay them down at His feet. Raise your hands, pray silently, or come forward for prayer as we declare His kingdom priority in our lives." This encourages active faith application, tying back to Matthew 6:33's promise.
https://storiesthatheal.blogspot.com/2016/09/bible-quote-sep-28th-matthew-633.html
Verse 1
In the whisper of the wind, You call my name
Beyond the worries of this world, Your kingdom reigns
Like lilies in the field, clothed in Your grace
I lift my eyes to You, in this sacred place
Chorus
Seek first Your kingdom, oh Lord
And Your righteousness, forevermore
All these things will be added, in Your perfect time
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word from Your throne
We seek You first, we seek You first
Verse 2
From ancient words You spoke, in the mountaintop light
You taught us not to fear, in the dead of night
Your promise echoes through the ages, ...