Damascus Moments By GAIL LOWE

  In the Book of Acts, as written in the Bible's New Testament, while on the road to Damascus, St. Paul, formerly known as Saul, experienced what he later believed to be a divine encounter with the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth. While riding his horse along the road, a bright light sprung up before him and he was instantly blinded. And then a disembodied voice said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Up to that moment, Saul had been on his way to Damascus to continue his pursuit of Christians. His goal was to murder them, one by one, because the rise of Christianity following Jesus' resurrection threatened what the Jewish nation held dear—their beliefs and traditions. They did not believe that Jesus could have been their Messiah because He did not fit the criteria. After he was blinded, Jesus instructed Saul to go to a nearby town where a man would restore his sight. Saul wisely followed Jesus' command and his sight was restored. But life was never the same. T...