The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets in their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand(1 Corinthians 16:19-21).

As he brings his letter to a close, Paul does your basic wrap-up. He passes on the “Tell them I said ‘Howdy’” messages from everybody, and generally tells them to play nice.

Some things I wonder…

Did Aquilla and Priscilla know that they would have a cameo in one of the most famous letters in history? How would they have felt about that?

Did anybody in the Corinthian church find the “holy kiss” awkward? Because when I traveled to churches in the East, I found that seriously awkward.

What was the deal with Paul’s writing? He often mentions that he dictated his letters, and wrote a final greeting in his own hand. I know most people figure he had bad eyesight, but why? Had he never fully recovered from his experience on the Damascus road? Did God heal him, but leave him with poor eyesight as a reminder? ‘Cause I don’t think he would have needed a reminder. Maybe it had nothing to do with that; maybe he had just spent too long sewing tents in poor lighting.

I wonder a lot. Feel free to shush me.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved