A change of name
I'm hereby giving notice of my change of name: I shall henceforth be known as "Saint Pat."
I've been thinking about this a while. I'm cranky, sarcastic and not always easy to get along with. Neither was St. Paul. Or St. Peter.
The "Saints" of church history are hardly any nobler. They're often misogynistic (St. Thomas Aquinas), bullying (just about all of them), nut jobs (St. Francis and his St. Clare - two of my favs, but today, they'd both be heavily medicated), and out of touch (all the mystics, including another of my favs, Julian of Norwich).
St. Thomas: just another frat boy Many led less than church-sanctioned lives before having religious conversions (St. Augustine), and even after.
Like them, though, I'm passionate about the God who came down from heaven for a walkabout on the planet Earth, in the form of Jesus Christ. My failings don't dim my devotion.
Therefore, I shall claim my title as saint, knowing my place in the Kingdom of God, where I will walk in the Garden and sit at the feet of my master, waits for me.
St. Julian will be my example. I will strive to have her vision, her sweetness of nature, and her understanding.While I make no claim to sainthood, I am Saint Pat.
6 comments:
Good for you. You're coming into your own.
Saint Pat: try http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh712.sht
Still one of my very favorites.
Cheers! I lift a glass to Saint Pat. Away, Unsaintly Pat!
Here's another cranky saint: St. Jerome.
Jerome was intemperate in controversy, and any correspondence with him tended to degenerate into a flame war. (His friendship with Augustine, conducted by letter, nearly ended before it began. Fortunately Augustine sized him up correctly, soothed his feelings, and was extremely tactful thereafter.) His hot temper, pride of learning, and extravagant promotion of asceticism involved him in many bitter controversies over questions of theology and of Bible interpretation. However, he was candid at times in admitting his failings, and was never ambitious for either worldly or churchly honors. He was a militant champion of orthodoxy, a tireless worker, and a scholar of rare gifts.
I remembered reading about him on his feast day which was last week. You're in good company, Saint Pat, but what a ruckus you will make when you all meet in heaven.
Aye! I'll drink to that! I love the song lyrics, Charlotte. And thanks for the link to St. Jerome, Mimi. I'm not nearly as cranky as him, though some of my friends and acquaintances may disagree!
Charlotte did what I wanted to. It's one of my favorites.
Rather daunting, isn't it, to claim the knowledge that we are -- and are becoming -- the saints of God? But claim it, my sistuh!
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