| General Fiction posted September 6, 2024 |
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A short visit with St. Paul
Heavenly Chit-chat
by Wayne Fowler
“Paul? Are you the Paul, formerly Saul, but became a disciple of Christ?”
“I am, young man. What can I do for you?”
“So… I’m, I’m in heaven?”
The man smiled warmly.
“I, uh, er, well… I never in a million years thought I could speak with you. You have been my super-hero. I have so many questions. But you… how are you? I mean, you suffered so much, for so many years. And that after your disappointments as a Pharisee. And to hear of the churches you established, churches failing in your teachings… And then when you were treated poorly by the original eleven… That must have been difficult.”
“Whoa, young man. Super-hero, huh? What’s your name? Let’s start with the most pressing of your uncertainties. I’ve found that when I dealt with the most difficult, others were like vapors exposed to the sun.
“As to your concern, they could have skinned me inch-by-inch, burned me slowly, done what they would, and the moment I saw my Christ I would have suffered a hundred times again. It would all be naught next to the incomparable joy I found in the arms of my Lord.
“Son, yes, I wish that I’d been able to follow Jesus on Earth as had the others. But I have known my Lord as well as any with the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Holy Trinity. That being the case, though, I was born not of a virgin, but an earthly mother by an earthly father. I was as human as you.”
My smile was infectious, raising a grin of equal proportion on Paul’s face. “Well, Sir, let me begin by asking a question that has haunted me - on occasion you acknowledged that in one matter or another, you had no specific instruction from the Lord, but…”
Paul lifted his hand for me to stop.
“Again. I will repeat myself. “I was only a man. I spoke and wrote as the Holy Spirit gave me utterance and inspiration, but our Savior was the only perfect man.”
“Well… what was the deal about men not wearing long hair, and women…?”
Again, Paul silenced me with his hand.
“I was making a point, a point that nature itself points us to righteousness and humility before God. And concerning women being silent during services…Due to men’s strict control over them, I was compelled to prioritize. Also, men being the husband of one wife. Or whether to marry or not… My goal was to introduce people of various cultures to Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. I birthed whole churches in heathen lands drawing believers from among the Jews and the Gentile… pagans. You don’t convince a man to walk your way by first chopping off his feet. I cared nothing about creating a new set of laws, about upending an entire culture. That is God’s work. Mine was but to convert them to Christ, the Son of God, who sacrificed himself on a cross and was raised from the dead, redeeming all mankind from their sin to everlasting life. And then to introduce people, men and women, to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
“Of course, women are as likely a candidate for the working of the Holy Spirit as men. But when a society insists that women are subservient and totally without education or authority, let us first save men from the evil one. Then the Holy Spirit can save them from themselves. No?”
Paul’s smile was infectious, bringing an understanding smile to my own.
“Listen, the age in which I took our Jesus to the unwashed, unclean, and unsaved, women were treated as children, even as they became wives and mothers. Would it do for an adolescent or a toddler to ask basic questions that boys and young men were taught as youths? No. But in some lands, I dare say, men went home to ask their wives such and so. Hah! I trusted the Holy Spirit, son, as did you.”
I nodded my gratitude… and smiled.
A Heavenly Chat contest entry
“Paul? Are you the Paul, formerly Saul, but became a disciple of Christ?”
“I am, young man. What can I do for you?”
“So… I’m, I’m in heaven?”
The man smiled warmly.
“I, uh, er, well… I never in a million years thought I could speak with you. You have been my super-hero. I have so many questions. But you… how are you? I mean, you suffered so much, for so many years. And that after your disappointments as a Pharisee. And to hear of the churches you established, churches failing in your teachings… And then when you were treated poorly by the original eleven… That must have been difficult.”
“Whoa, young man. Super-hero, huh? What’s your name? Let’s start with the most pressing of your uncertainties. I’ve found that when I dealt with the most difficult, others were like vapors exposed to the sun.
“As to your concern, they could have skinned me inch-by-inch, burned me slowly, done what they would, and the moment I saw my Christ I would have suffered a hundred times again. It would all be naught next to the incomparable joy I found in the arms of my Lord.
“Son, yes, I wish that I’d been able to follow Jesus on Earth as had the others. But I have known my Lord as well as any with the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Holy Trinity. That being the case, though, I was born not of a virgin, but an earthly mother by an earthly father. I was as human as you.”
My smile was infectious, raising a grin of equal proportion on Paul’s face. “Well, Sir, let me begin by asking a question that has haunted me - on occasion you acknowledged that in one matter or another, you had no specific instruction from the Lord, but…”
Paul lifted his hand for me to stop.
“Again. I will repeat myself. “I was only a man. I spoke and wrote as the Holy Spirit gave me utterance and inspiration, but our Savior was the only perfect man.”
“Well… what was the deal about men not wearing long hair, and women…?”
Again, Paul silenced me with his hand.
“I was making a point, a point that nature itself points us to righteousness and humility before God. And concerning women being silent during services…Due to men’s strict control over them, I was compelled to prioritize. Also, men being the husband of one wife. Or whether to marry or not… My goal was to introduce people of various cultures to Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. I birthed whole churches in heathen lands drawing believers from among the Jews and the Gentile… pagans. You don’t convince a man to walk your way by first chopping off his feet. I cared nothing about creating a new set of laws, about upending an entire culture. That is God’s work. Mine was but to convert them to Christ, the Son of God, who sacrificed himself on a cross and was raised from the dead, redeeming all mankind from their sin to everlasting life. And then to introduce people, men and women, to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
“Of course, women are as likely a candidate for the working of the Holy Spirit as men. But when a society insists that women are subservient and totally without education or authority, let us first save men from the evil one. Then the Holy Spirit can save them from themselves. No?”
Paul’s smile was infectious, bringing an understanding smile to my own.
“Listen, the age in which I took our Jesus to the unwashed, unclean, and unsaved, women were treated as children, even as they became wives and mothers. Would it do for an adolescent or a toddler to ask basic questions that boys and young men were taught as youths? No. But in some lands, I dare say, men went home to ask their wives such and so. Hah! I trusted the Holy Spirit, son, as did you.”
I nodded my gratitude… and smiled.
Thanks to Seshadin-sreenivasan for 'High in God's Heaven!' from FanArtReview.
1 Cor. 7:12 I, not the Lord...
1 Cor. 7:25 ... I have no command from the Lord...
1 Cor. 11:14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair...
1 Cor. 14:35 ...for it is improper for a woman to speak in church
1 Tim 3:2 ...husband of one wife...
677 words
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. 1 Cor. 7:12 I, not the Lord...
1 Cor. 7:25 ... I have no command from the Lord...
1 Cor. 11:14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair...
1 Cor. 14:35 ...for it is improper for a woman to speak in church
1 Tim 3:2 ...husband of one wife...
677 words
Artwork by seshadri_sreenivasan at FanArtReview.com
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