Some years ago, before we moved to Apalachicola, we lived in Annandale, Virginia, just about 20 minutes away from Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in Alexandria, Virginia. VTS had a Lay School that met in the evening, with the classes taught by the seminary professors. I took advantage of the opportunity to attend for a few years. It was a time of great blessing and growth for me at my mid-life turning point.

The esteemed New Testament theologian, the Rev. Reginald H. Fuller, was my professor for New Testament. He had already retired to Richmond, Virginia, but commuted to VTS once a week to teach that class. How special and privileged we all felt to sit at the feet of such an accomplished theologian! The class requirements differed from professor to professor. Some gave in-class exams, some gave take-home exams, some required papers, some gave us choices of what work to submit. As I recall, Dr. Fuller provided a variety of New Testament aspects to address in one way or another, one being Philemon’s response to Paul’s letter. As a writer, that got my attention as it provided the most opportunity for creativity. It was fun to work on, and I was quite pleased with my submission which focused on a play of words with the run-away slave’s name, Onesimus, which means “useless” in comparison with his usefulness to Paul. When my paper was returned I found that, while I was happy with my grade, Dr. Fuller had some searching questions that I had not considered in my response. He helped me see that the obvious first response isn’t necessarily the only way to go, that there are always other levels to consider if only we take the time, which has stood me in good stead over the years.

I offer that exercise to you. Consider how you would respond to Paul if you were Philemon. You might even put pen to paper and see what comes forth.