Alma de Color

The book of Philemon is a letter from Paul and Timothy to a house church in Colossae (modern southwest Turkey). Paul addresses the letter to three influential believers who had some leading role in the church: Philemon, the wealthy homeowner, Apphia, believed by some to be his wife while other scholars/historians believe she was more likely to be a deacon like Phoebe (Mowczko, 2016) , and Archippus was a minister of some sort within the body of believers there. Colossae was a city known for its syncretism (HarperChristian Resources, 2022), which is the blending of incompatible religious beliefs or worldviews. Verse 6 of Philemon states that Paul and Timothy are eager for the believers in that church to have “fellowship that would lead to quote faith [becoming] effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in [them] for Christ's sake” (NASB, 1995). This letter to Philemon has some background history. Onesimus had stolen from his master Philemon and then had run awa...

An echoing thunder torments the corridors of my mind My senses awake, I feel the coming downpour As a mouse feels the lurking talons of the  Feathered shadow, hovering, thrumming. Hovering, thrumming, strumming the poignant chords Reverberating on the thin strings of the chest  Cavity.  I sense a change, I feel the Stirring of a new and unequaled challenge. A new and unequaled sunrise marks the  Arrival of a day fraught with  Unexpected, the unfathomable possibilities Discovered among the rich sands of adventure. Sands of adventure obscure my eyes a And I fight to clear them.  I want to  See clearly now, and forever, avoiding All traps that lie in wait for the unguarded. My heart was supposedly impenetrable and guarded, Believing the best and reckless in abandon, But a thief tiptoed in with promises of strength, Promises of beauty and a pact of forever. The shattered shards of that pact of forever Fe...