The Lives of the Saints

I never read about saints before now. At best the idea of a saint evoked a picture of someone’s grandmother singing in the pews. At worst, a saint was graven image dominating a sanctuary taking glory away from God. Now I see that the saints provide stories that help us see God in places we might not otherwise see God.

This revelation came about as part of a lovely gift I was given on Tuesday.  Tuesday I went to a meeting at Brite Divinity School. It was my second visit and I was not terribly excited, after all I had been there once already. What an amazing day it turned out to be! I was able to attend a lecture about paradise and repentance using ancient Christian art to support the points. Then, I heard the stories of the saints.

The stories of men and women who had faithfully followed the call of God on their lives were told by their children. Intimate stories of Saturday nights spent rehearsing sermons and kitchens caught on fire when parishioners needed help.  Underneath the stories told you could almost hear the untold stories; stories of nights when personal children were neglected in favor of helping another, stories of spouses left to amuse themselves for hours while emergencies unfolded, stories of saints and their families sacrificing in an effort to show the world God’s love.

Then I read the stories of Saint Scholastica and her brother St. Benedict.  Scholastica and Benedict were twins who were fully devoted to God. They lived out there lives in seclusion following strict rules of conduct and discipline. One night just before her death, Scholastica and Benedict met for their annual night away together. He wanted to leave to keep the requirements of his monastery. She wanted him to stay and fellowship with her. She prayed and cried and God sent a rain storm that prevented his leaving. The next morning, he left after they had spent the hours of the night in discussion about God and servings. She died a few days later. He buried her in the tomb prepared for him at the monastery.

Her story illustrates that even though discipline is an important part of our life with God, a greater part is the relationships we are entrusted to maintain.

The lives of the saints serve to illustrate. I think of other saints I know and the stories of their lives. I think of my friend who daily strives to serve God with all of her being. I think of her struggles to know God intimately and bring others to a similar relationship. She does all of this while sacrificing time with her children, all of this while supporting others to do the same. My other friend teaches and daily inspires others to become all that they can. She does not get to talk about Jesus to her students but her daily presence is a testimony worth many books.

“Do whatever he tells you” Mary said this to the servants at the wedding feast in Cana. Whatever he tells you is sometimes as simple as filling a jug with water.  Sometimes whatever he tells you is to use your gifts to serve others.

The lives of the saints are not always told in statues and story books; most of the time the stories of saints are told over kitchen tables to grandchildren and friends.