Three Cheers for the Little Guy

I have always gravitated toward the underdog in movies, sports, or real life. I love to root for the unknown hero in all spheres. For instance, one of my favorite movies is Rudy, the story of a young man who has lived his whole life in the shadow of Notre Dame football - and desires to play one day for his beloved hometown college. Or perhaps it explains my love of Red Sox baseball - playing the game for 87 years without winning a World Series. (I'm actually less interested now that they have won. I'm currently rooting for the Chicago Cubs!)

But I digress - the point is that I tend to notice "the little people" wherever they show up. Last week I was reading through the book of Acts and found one:

"Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush (to kill Paul), so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, 'Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.' So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, 'Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.' The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, 'What is it that you have to tell me?' "

So Paul's nephew retold his story, and Paul was then saved from being ambushed and murdered.

This is the only reference to Paul's immediate family - we only know that he had a sister, who had a son. But what courage it must have taken for this "young man" to make his way into Paul's prison, and then have to go before one of the centurions, who would then bring him to the tribune. I'm sure Paul, his sister, and all of Paul's followers were very grateful for this act of bravery.

And what reward was "the son of Paul's sister" given? Well, part of his life story IS written in the Bible, and now in 2010 he IS the topic of a Candyceland blog. That's something, isn't it??? Imagine his surprise when this was posted at 5AM today! :-)