V: Good morning, Don.
D: Good morning, Vicki.
V: Today's reading in Power for Today tells us that older people can still be a blessing.
D: Really? How is that?
V: Well, he says that for 15 years, a couple of kings and a queen of Judah (the southern part of Israel) worshipped "heathen" (or pagan) gods.
D: These gods were named Baal and Ashteroth, the chief gods in the ancient country of Canaan.
V: Right. And God's people ignored His commands which told them not to make any "graven images" (or statues) of things to worship.
D: What did the old man do to stop this?
V: One thing he did was to arrange a "coup" (or takeover) of the palace (the king's house), and then made Joash the new king.
D: I'm sure that was not easy.
V: You're right. But they worked together to restore proper worship to "Jehovah" (one of the Old Testament names for God).
D: Yes. And they also collected "free-will" (or voluntary) offerings to help pay for the people who worked on the temple, the "masons" (or bricklayers) and carpenters.
V: They even replaced the temple "furnishings" (or furniture).
D: The author calls the things which the old priest did a "bright episode" (or great event) in the history of Israel.
V: I think the point of today's reading is for us to know that one person, no matter how old, can make a great difference.
D; I agree with you. Let's give thanks for people like this in our time.
V: And have a good one.
D: You too.