Process, short-circuited

After Acts 25:1-12

Guilty of nothing but

false accusations, he moves

from official to official,

court to court, this one hoping

for a bribe, that one hoping

for entertainment, another hoping

for it all to disappear, to go away

into the background noise

of the marketplace. But he persists,

until his appeal, the appeal of a citizen

to the justice of the first citizen,

Relieved at this short-circuitry

of what they believe is a just process,

they pack him off, ensuring the message

from the provinces would travel

and be heard at the center.

Illustration: Paul appeals to Caesar, via Outset Ministry.