Have you ever written an obituary? Most likely you’ve at least read an obituary, and if you’ve ever worked at a newspaper, then you’re familiar with paid obituaries vs. non-paid obituaries. Non-paid obituaries stick to certain guidelines, contents and lengths. Paid obituaries can be as long as they want, as long as the person who submits it is willing to pay for each word (or characters or inches or however the paper decides to charge for them). So, in theory, if someone were willing to pay half their life savings, they could honor someone in the newspaper with a story as long as Solomon’s. Why am I comparing today’s reading to an obituary? Well, when I got to the end, it sort of had that feel to me. That’s why. Ezra has been super good about wrapping up stories with references to where he may have obtained his info and with important snippets about where the person died and how long they reigned, etc. Solomon’s tale was no different.
Can we also talk about the Queen of Sheba? I love her, and I want to know more about her, but apparently, she’s quite a mystery to everyone who’s ever studied her. During a quick Google, I learned that scholars have debated for years as to where this queen ruled: some say Ethiopia, and some say southern Arabia. Well, I’m certainly not going to try and guess, but I bet wherever it was, it was much different than Israel. You can tell just by the queen’s reaction upon seeing the kingdom Solomon had built. I think I’ll start my screenplay about the Queen of Sheba today. Just kidding. But wouldn’t it be a good one? Since there is little known about her, you could kind of let your imagination run wild, huh?
Writing prompt: death or life
Write an obituary about someone (or yourself) today, or write about the life of the Queen of Sheba.
jugglingfire.com 