I Appeal To Caesar!

father was the wish that I would provide a son to carry on his lineage!”

“Well, Saul, my brother, and friend, I am only concerned for your welfare and the fulfillment of God’s will in your life. My prayer is that you will find the way you are to go and prosper in that fulfillment. “Oh, . . . and, by the way, we will be having a guest in the near future, a cousin of my wife, a woman slightly younger than you, and extremely spiritual. Her father was a rabbinical scholar who exposed her to the life of Scripture study. Her name is Esther.” “Samuel,” Saul says, changing the subject, “I have run out of a certain kind of thread, so I am going down to the vendor to acquire some. I will return soon.” * * * * * Now acclimated to this most-unusual city, Saul walks confidently down the terraced trail on his way to see the merchant, feeling relieved to have terminated the conversation about marriage. He carries a sack with some woven slippers he has made as a payment to the merchant. Striding along, Saul reflects on, of all things, how the prophet Hosea found that he was called to illustrate in his own married life the very feelings of God for Israel. Making a slower turn, Saul looks quizzically at Samuel, shaking his head in wonderment.

“Yes, well, my mind is not really stuck on this marital

subject!”