Fire. Music. Fiction

I love to cuddle up by the fire.
Curl up with a good book.
Listen to music with my hot chocolate.
Cuddle up with someone and watch a good film or television show.
Obviously, cuddling is key.

Be not hot-headed over this non-issue. I simply ask the question: What If?

Sometimes I don't need an intense debate, usually those just wear me down and neither I nor the one who began the "discussion" in the first place are very happy with one another.

However, I do like to talk about things every once in a while. Things that one might jot down as "historical fiction" or something that may have happened but we do not really know. It's interesting to me to explore the possibilities. One of these topics for me, in particular, is Saul, whose name became Paul once he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Now, Paul wrote an awful lot about marriage for a missionary who spent his travels as a single man. We know he was single as a Christian Missionary through his travels because he writes from prisons and form several cities talking about how he needs provisions to get from one place to another, or how he was helped for his travels by another church to be somewhere, etc, etc. He never mentions another, and the only other ever mentioned along with his name is the other missionary who wanted to keep John called Mark around. They separate over that issue.

What about before Saul became a Christian? When he was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, a Hebrew of Hebrews? He knew his heritage, and, if I dare say it, was quite proud of it. Not that he was not overjoyed to reach out to the Gentiles, for to this purpose, he was called. Could it be possible, however, that when Saul became Paul, the Pharisee became a Missionary, he could have been married?

Paul speaks to many VERY specific divisions of married and single people, particularly in Corinth. Granted, this "Christian" community was participating in things and doing acts that even Pagans reviled; so, like speaking to a child, he felt the need to be very specific. At the same time, though, could it be possible that a very Jewish wife left her ex-Pharisee husband?

Now, do not get me wrong, I do not get into heated discussions about this. I do not argue until my head explodes. I do not get angry when someone refuses to think about the possibility. I simply wonder and would like to discuss the possibility. I do not think it is wrong since the matter is not a real huge issue, it does not take away the legitimacy of Paul's letters, it does not take away the validity of Scripture, and it does NOT lessen the work that Christ did in His ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. It asks a simple question about a simple saint who was an apostle for the work of Jesus.

Too many times do people get into heated debate with me over this non-issue. Too many times do I have to just say, "Forget it," because I feel attacked over asking a question that doesn't matter in the scheme of things because I was curious over the life of a man who walked a couple thousand years ago.

In speaking of him as a regular man do I lessen the influence he had in our faith? No. Do we not, even today, ask questions of the lives of the men who influenced other church periods? Martin Luther. John Calvin. Augustine. John Wesley. And there are many more. And when I say "questions of the lives..." I do not mean scandalous parts of their personal lives, I mean general facts that influenced their teachings.

Paul says that a non-believing spouse is made holy because of their believing spouse; he said that if a spouse becomes a believer after being married, they should stay with their spouse, unless the non-believing spouse chooses to leave the believer, that is not on the believer's head (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). Very specific. I am just curious. I am by no means taking away from Paul's work nor am I taking away from his righteousness as an apostle for the work of God. I am just asking a question.

Friend: –noun
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter
3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile
-->http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/friend

Someone you trust
Who trusts you.
Someone you admire
Who encourages you.
Someone worth fighting with
Who still loves you when you're wrong.

Someone who commends your opinions
Even when they disagree.
Someone who takes comfort in separation
And enjoys a coffee date just to chat when the time approaches.
Someone who will not lie to you
Even if they know the truth will hurt.

Someone who is loyal
And gently reprimands those who talk down about you.
Someone who encourages you to open up
And opens up to you.
Someone who grieves with you
And does not rebuke your pain.