The Conversion of St. Paul

Conversion of St. Paul - Caravaggio, 1600

Today marks the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle -- the man whose writings comprise a goodly portion of the New Testament in the Christian Scriptures, the man whose ideas challenge and stimulate discussion even today, the man who had dedicated his life to eradicating the Followers of The Way -- until he met the Master.  Another one of God's lovely paradoxes, whose life and words, deeply studied, cannot fail to change us, too.

An enemy whom God has made a friend,

A righteous man discounting righteousness,

Last to believe and first for God to send,

He found the fountain in the wilderness.

Thrown to the ground and raised at the same moment,

A prisoner who set his captors free,

A naked man with love his only garment,

A blinded man who helped the world to see,

A Jew who had been perfect in the law,

Blesses the flesh of every other race

And helps them see what the apostles saw;

The glory of the lord in Jesus' face.

Strong in his weakness, joyful in his pains,

And bound by love, he freed us from our chains.

- Apostle: A Sonnet for the Conversion of St. Paul

Malcolm Guite