New book explores Bible's Joseph
By Rhonda Bates-Rudd / The Detroit News

Detroit native Diane Proctor Reeder's new book takes a different approach to the Biblical story of Joseph.

A Diary of Joseph: A Spiritual Journey Through Time, speaks in the voice of Joseph, as well as relating his experiences and thoughts to events in Reeder's life -- including her experiences as the wife of a leukemia patient.
Author and publisher Rebecca Osaigbovo said the book is a must-read for African Americans.

"What I like most about the book is Diane's interpersonal account, the dialogue she was having with God, as far as what was going on in her life," Osaigbovo said.
"She uses her husband's dying to demonstrate to us that, as a people, we either don't ask the right questions or we take stuff and never realize what the purpose is in what we have gone through.
"I think in times of persecution, we as a people often overlook the opportunity to dialogue with God, and when we don't find purpose we get stuck in a rut of bitterness and unforgiveness," Osaigbovo said. "Whether its good or bad, we have to come to the realization that stuff just happens in life, but the end is always the same, we have a destiny by God to offer spiritual bread in the time of hopelessness or famine."

Reeder came up with the title and began writing the book in 1987, when she and husband Terry were expecting their first child.
"I pursued other writing interests and and sort of forgot about the book, I believe, because I hadn't suffered the way that Joseph had," said Reeder. She is a Detroit-based writer, editor and public relations consultant.
"But in 1994 my husband was diagnosed with leukemia, and myself and Terry decided it was time to start writing."

A Diary retails for $12.98 and is available at Apple Book Center, Southfield at Outer Drive; Truth Bookstore, Northland Mall; Baker's Christian Bookstore, Grand River near Greenfield; God's World, 7 Mile and Schaefer; Unity Temple, 17550 Second, east of McNichols; Shaman Drum Bookstore, State Street in Ann Arbor (University of Michigan's Central Campus) and the Church of Today, I-696 in Warren.