What we read a moment ago was a piece of that defense. Apparently another of the complaints about Paul was that he was too earthy. His visit to the third heaven had elated him, Paul said, but when he came back down to earth, he landed on a thorn that had been sticking with him ever since. The thorn has really provoked a lot of interest down through the years. No one can say for sure what it was.
Some guesses are that it was malaria or migraines or epilepsy or depression or a speech impediment.
That is to say, he was one of us. Whether he was on his knees in prayer or speaking or writing or being shipwrecked, it was just there. He'd try to get focused on his work and it was just there. Whatever the thorn was, it got in his way so much that he begged God, not once, but 3 times to take it away from him. And the answer to that prayer turned out to be as big a revelation as anything Paul had seen in Paradise.