This is the first ordinary day we have had for over a month, so we need a bit of a refresher as to where we were with Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar has had a second dream and when we last left him, Daniel has had to break the bad news to the King that the dream portends that he will lose his mind, living like an animal and eating grass like a cow for seven years.

This is a real thing .....Boanthropy is a psychological disorder in which the sufferer believes he or she is a cow or ox. Although other possible medical issues may contribute to the condition. How many of us fear losing our minds, especially those of us that have suffered with depression or some other form of mental ill health in the past.

It took Daniel an entire hour of shock, worry and prayer to work out a way to break this news to the King – not an easy thing breaking bad news to a person who can “shoot the messenger” if he doesn’t like the message. King Nebuchadnezzar’s great sin is pride. He is like the merchant Jesus teaches about who has a bumper harvest and so decides to build extra large barns to fit it all then finally sits back feeling secure and says. “Friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women, and song for you!”’ Then God speaks and say’s, “Tonight you die”.

The reply from Daniel is the same answer that Jesus gives in his parable, “Stop sinning; do what you know is right; be merciful to the poor.” The wealthy merchant in Jesus parable should have shared his excess with the poor instead of greedily keeping it to himself at the expense of building bigger barns to store it.

I watched a movie on Netflix last night that was like the parable of the rich merchant mixed with the Good Samaritian Parable, modernized. It’s called ‘Good Sam’.

When a mysterious good samaritan leaves $100,000 cash on seemingly random doorsteps, New York City news reporter Kate Bradley sets out to discover the true identity and motive of "Good Sam."

The point being the jaded, cynical reporter can’t believe anyone would give away that much money and not want anything in return. But someone did and it sets off a chain reaction of kindness and generosity. While we can’t all afford to give away that much money – we can all, I am sure, do one Act of Random Kindness (ARK) for someone else this week. Get on board God’s ARK and spark a chain reaction of your own.