“This is a strange story,” declares J.M. Creed. “Fantastic and grotesque,” adds Joseph Fitzmyer. “Unsophisticated, with enough preposterous material to invite the scorn of the skeptic,” concludes J. Pesch. These men are all esteemed New Testament scholars. Their statements refer to the story I just read (Luke 8:26-39). If you want a more local opinion, take it from the lady who edits the church page. In response to hearing the title of this morning’s sermon, she simply said: “Yuk.”

On the one and only occasion in my life when fate left me with a couple of hours to kill in Middletown, Connecticut, I made it a point to walk by the house where Annie Dillard lives. Alas, she wasn’t home. Not that I would have known what to do if she was. I probably would have been tongue tied. Annie Dillard is a favorite of mine, quietly admired from afar.