Acts 17 -- to praise and paean the unknown

An Australian bishop once lamented, "Wherever Paul went, they had a riot. Wherever I go, they serve me tea and cookies!" The recipe for peace in one troubled town after another was -- put Paul on a boat and send him somewhere else!

Act 17:14 Bunun üzerine kardeşler Pavlus'u hemen deniz kıyısına yolladılar. Silas ile Timoteos ise Veriya'da kaldılar.
Act 17:15 Pavlus'la birlikte gidenler onu Atina'ya kadar götürdüler. Sonra Pavlus'tan, Silas'la Timoteos'un bir an önce kendisine yetişmeleri yolunda buyruk alarak geri döndüler.
Act 17:16 Onları Atina'da bekleyen Pavlus, kenti putlarla dolu görünce yüreğinde derin bir acı duydu.

Paul shows up in the sophisticated metropolis at the heart of Greek culture, and immediately starts making noise. He dialogues with the local philosophers in their own forum, quotes their own poets and writers to them, and mentions an episode out of their own history, the incident of "the unknown god." A few centuries earlier, a plague had visited Greece. It continued despite sacrifices and prayers made to all the known idols. In desperation, they called upon "none of the above," the God they did not know -- and their prayers were answered.

Those who seek, will find. Perhaps, not in the place they anticipated[1], since the creative God delights in surprising those He loves.

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[1] Old joke. A man is scouring the ground under a streetlight.

"What are you looking for?"
"My car keys."
"Where did you lose them?"
"Over there, under the hedge."
"Why are you looking for them here?"
"The light's better."