Circles in the Stream

Maybe we should read Genesis 37-50 as the story of Joseph and Judah. Both kept their families alive and received major blessings from their father Jacob. Like his brother Joseph, Judah knew how to use words to lead and persuade, primarily by appealing to common experience. His speeches model Kenneth Burke's rhetoric of identification, "inducing cooperation" by showing his listeners how they are consubstantial--that is, where they stand together. Preachers hope to do the same, making gospel conne