I awoke with thoughts of Philemon. Odd. It’s not the typical Christmas draw. The rain streamed from the roof to the gutters, down the windows, and in the December grey I turned to this letter for a Christmas message. My mind a misty fog, I read the letter three times. Distracted, my eyes moved to the kitchen counter to a large fruit basket wrapped in cellophane… a very large fruit basket….a gift for work done. Through the film of plastic the brilliant colors of the variety of produce was visible and I wondered if it was all for show. Is the beauty only skin deep; the deep orange skin covering a dry tasteless citrus; the gleaming red and green shielding a mealy soft apple?
Shaking my head I returned to the pages on my lap. ‘O Holy Spirit, wake up my mind. Teach me! Reveal Your truth. I read this letter and feel that Paul is manipulating Philemon, using guilt to control.’
‘Beloved, remove the cellophane. Don’t read this with your preconceived ideas of the relationship between Paul and Philemon. Look for Jesus. He is there. See that Paul has heard even in prison of Philemon’s faith lived out in love. His life has given nourishment and comfort and joy to those not only around him but worldwide.’
Suddenly the letter changed from one of heavy handed influence to encouragement, relationship, and connectedness. Christ connecting people in new ways, refreshing, renewing, restoring through forgiveness, blessing with His presence, reminding of our rescue from the slavery of sin.
‘Beloved, I Am here! Unwrap the Good News! The proclamation of Christmas! For you I remove the veil so you can partake of the life giving fruit. Fruit given in such abundance that you can share and connect and forgive and restore and refresh and renew and bless and build and remind and…’
Loved the wonderful unwrapping of Philemon you did here. 🙂
“‘Beloved, I Am here! Unwrap the Good News! The proclamation of Christmas! For you I remove the veil so you can partake of the life giving fruit….”
Amen, yes! Awesome.
Blessings to you and your family this Christmas, Kathleen.
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Thank you for sharing your process and the fruit photo illustration. Beautiful!
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