For What It's Worth by Erin

Thinking about St. Paul this morning. You know the guy: persecutor of the first followers of Jesus, struck blind by the revelation of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).

Do we remember the story? (“Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.”) The words spoken? (“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?) Paul asks who “He” is, only to be told, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
 
OUCH! That changed everything for St. Paul and he became one of our greatest saints, and is indirectly the reason that a church here in Beaverton, Oregon, exists and follows that same Jesus Christ. But it’s more complicated than that, isn’t it?

In turn, each of us has had our Saul/Paul moment…or moments. Maybe dramatic, or perhaps persistent smaller promptings which have led us here, to this time and place. Maybe it began a long time ago, or something that just recently got our attention. Whatever the answers, it is personally and distinctly OUR OWN story.

So read Acts 9 again, and think about Paul’s story and then our own. Think through all the ways that Jesus has reached out to us, because He has. When we aren’t sure, we ask Him to help and show us. As we think through things with Jesus, use Fr. Dave’s “3 Questions” to assist the conversation: “What am I grateful for, sorry about, and what do I ask of God, or is He asking of me?” Whatever the answers, it is to convert us to belong to Jesus. That is what our life is all about! +