This is my favorite article you have written about the fine points of the Bible. No wonder we are confused! Why would a loving God allow troubles like these, whatever Paul's trouble was? We find out more from the wounds of real life than by the sweetness and light many churches promise. We find out that we don't know everything!! Many times we use rites of a church tradition to try to make our pain and confusion go away. But are we "supposed" to do rites? I think rites are comforting, but sometimes discouraging because we are looking at a tradition rather than a solution. Nothing makes a "self" more aware of personal woes than a time of trial. If all we can do is be hammering away at getting rid of the pain, we will discover nothing. What grain of sand is sitting where in our lives? Can we develop a love for that grain of sand, and find a way to use it? Can a bolt of lightning blind us and somehow benefit us and others in the end?