More Than Pleasantries

Have you ever watched a movie in which one of the characters is reading something out loud for everyone else to hear.  It might have been an important letter, a story, or the reading of a will?  Inevitably, as the characters grow impatient, someone blurts out, “Skip the pleasantries and get to the good part.” And it may be tempting for us to do that when we're reading Paul's letter to Philemon. However, what may seem like little more than pleasantries are actually what this letter is all about.