Conversion of St Paul (25 January)

Paul (aka Saul) of Tarsus.  An interesting conundrum to community-founding folk such as myself.

Saul is initially a powerful figure in the community, apparently.  Able to raise the funds and support to go on long trips with the express intent of punishing wrongdoers.  A kind of 1st century Hnaef, I suppose.

And yet... that's all given up after his encounter on the Damascus road.

Instead he gives himself up as a slave to his new Master.  Instead of the one pulling the strings, chasing the bad guys, wielding power - he ends up effectively powerless.  The sermons we read from him in the Acts, seem not the same as the stumbling orator he describes himself as in the Letters - Paul being humble?  Or Luke bigging the man up?  Either way, he seems to be depending on the Spirit, not on his official position.
In any case, we have here an example of a religious leader who voluntarily goes into exile, effectively becomes homeless and lives like a vagrant.  He has no institutional power - depending on the power given him by God and the inspiration he can achieve in letter and sermon.  I mean, he didn't even have a fixer to help with the community "living expenses".

He depends on the charity of strangers, is voluntarily imprisoned, suffers punishment without bleating, and in the end (we are told) he suffers the ultimate punishment.

I can only say, with Eustacia Vye, that he's a great bloke for the Bible but would hardly have done in real life.