Walking Among Saints

By: Edward Viljoen on Friday, September 12, 2014

Share it Please

Tweet

I grew up Catholic.  Saints are special to Catholics, as they are to people of other faiths.  The reason saints were special to me as a young catholic, is because I could identify with them more easily than with images of Divinity.  Saints went through every test and trail that I went through.  And, there was a saint for every human difficulty, a person who had the same life experience I might ever found myself struggling with.  At least that is how it seemed to me.  The struggle of the saint and their triumph and the way they called their faith into play to rise above the challenge was very encouraging to me.  They seemed to be magnificent role models and loved reading about them.


Tell Them Everything Because They Already Know

The way it worked, according to me, is that if you had an issue, you would connect with the saint who worked that issue out.  In your prayer you would take time to talk to that saint.  You would tell them the whole store, taking your time to go over every detail and leaving nothing out.  You’d tell them what was going on and then, and I sincerely loved this part, the saint would to God on your behalf to intervene.

Look, I may have got the whole thing wrong, and today I certainly don’t believe anyone needs an intermediary between them and Divinity, however, I can tell you that talking to the saints was one of the most comforting practices of my young trouble life.  Because they were passed on, the saints had no bodies, they weren’t intimidating.  The downside was that you didn’t always get clear feed back.  The trade of for clarity was that you could literally tell them everything.

I don’t know where I got the idea from, but I was convinced that because they were part of the invisibleness of being, they already somehow knew everything, so nothing was too shocking to tell a saint.  In fact, that was how you gave it up.  That’s how you released it and gave it over.  Through the telling.  They were going to God to clear it all up, and they, through their ascended beauty of mind and spirit would present me in the most favorable light according to their blessed temperament.

No Intermediaries to Divinity Needed

As an adult I abandoned the whole idea of intermediaries or Divinity needing contrite explanations for past transgressions or worries about the future.  I began to immerse myself in the idea of direct communication with Reality.  I began to feel my relationship with all-that-is in my moments of quiet contemplation when I became intensely aware of the present moment and the aliveness in it.

But I haven’t abandoned the saints, I see them now in current time as role models around me who act out courage, kindness, bravery, thoughtfulness and compassion while going through the trials of navigating this world.  There are no shortages of saints.  They live in everyone one of us, through the disappointments, victories of our lives, we guide each other.  I have started to have the experience of what it means to take refuge in the community because my saints are visible to me and I am able to actually talk to them, celebrate with them, cry with them, be inspired with them, and when the time comes, present my shoulder for them to lean upon.

And not only contemporary saints.  I still celebrate the lives of those who have gone before me.  Who have lived from their faith.  Who have overcome great hardships.  Who have put others before self.  Who have loved deeply and profoundly. 

They continue to inspire me.