The Blessing and Responsibility of Anointment

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” (1 Samuel 16:12, NRSVCE)

He was only a shepherd boy; a good-looking one, to be sure, but a shepherd boy with little else to recommend him. He was the youngest of eight brothers, and couldn’t have reasonably expected his lot in life to change much in the coming decades.

Except it did.

The...