{"id":692,"date":"2023-11-13T20:25:23","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=692"},"modified":"2023-11-13T20:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:27:06","slug":"for-all-the-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=692","title":{"rendered":"For All the Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reflection #78 (29th October 2023 at Essex Church \/ Kensington Unitarians)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Unitarians don\u2019t really make a big thing about Saints, do we, as a rule? Contrary to other denominations, it\u2019s very rare to find a Unitarian church named after a saint \u2013 apparently the only one remaining in the UK is St. Mark\u2019s in Edinburgh \u2013 though I recently read a blog post by Rev Dr David Steers (an expert in Unitarian history) which reckoned there were two others that had existed in the past: St. Michael\u2019s in Selby, Yorkshire, and St. Thomas\u2019 in Ringwood, Hampshire, two chapels which closed in the 60s and 70s respectively. This is quite a contrast to other denominations, in the wider Christian tradition (especially in Catholicism), where the significance of saints is much more evident in names, icons, and feast days. And, of course, saints are not just a Christian phenomenon, there are parallel roles in most faith traditions: Bodhisattvas in Buddhism come readily to mind. So I find myself wondering: are we missing out by shying away from the saints? What might we gain from engaging with them? And can we do so in a way that is in keeping with our tradition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start here: What is a saint, anyway? The simplest definition, our starting point, probably has to be: \u2018a holy person\u2019. A saint is a holy person. Perhaps our next question should be: what is it to be holy? It seems the most common answer to that is: \u2018devoted to God\u2019 or \u2018dedicated to the Good\u2019; I\u2019ve also seen \u2018perfect in goodness and righteousness\u2019. And the etymology of \u2018holy\u2019 is derived from \u2018whole\u2019 and connected to \u2018health\u2019. So perhaps a saint is a person dedicated to God, to goodness, righteousness, wholeness. Another account, by John A. Coleman, SJ (another Jesuit) suggests that those considered saints are usually an exemplary model of how to live, an extraordinary teacher, a source of benevolent power who can work wonders, and someone with special and revelatory relation to God and the holy. I particularly like Lawrence Babb\u2019s metaphor describing saints as \u2018focal points of spiritual force-fields\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Christian tradition, the process of officially recognising someone as a saint \u2013 declaring a person to be worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon \u2013 is known as canonisation. It seems that the necessary qualifications to become an official saint, in the Catholic church at least, have tightened up a lot over the centuries! Nowadays, if you want to put someone forward for sainthood, it\u2019s quite a procedure, requiring a prolonged investigation to gather supporting evidence, and at least a couple of posthumous miracles to your name (though Mother Teresa got fast-tracked).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But official saints \u2013 those officially rubber-stamped by the Pope \u2013 or by leaders of other traditions \u2013 they\u2019re only part of the picture. There are plenty more of what we might call \u2018folk saints\u2019, often folk heroes with a local following, a connection to a particular area. This is especially a thing in Latin America, where indigenous communities often have their own saints, not approved by the church. And there\u2019s a sense in which, even in mainstream Christianity, all of the \u2018faithful deceased in heaven\u2019 are considered to be saints. Although extraordinary souls are marked out, as worthy of special honour or emulation, we can consider anyone who lived a good and faithful life to be deserving of the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was particularly taken with the James Martin\u2019s phrase, from the piece Pat just read for us, the idea that saints are \u2018models of holiness\u2019, and that we can be inspired to live differently by their example. Laurence Housman wrote that \u2018a saint is someone who makes goodness attractive.\u2019 And Ann Gordon has this to say: \u2018In the Buddhist tradition\u2026 the faithful are encouraged to study the lives of the great bodhisattvas, the compassionate ones who could have chosen Nirvana but chose instead to remain on earth to assist the suffering. Likewise, in the Catholic tradition, we have the saints \u2014 those whose lives serve as living embodiments of Christian principles in action. They endure not only because they lived with great spiritual purpose but because they call each of us to do the same today.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words from Ann Gordon. So given all this: can we \u2013 should we \u2013 aspire to be saints ourselves?
It sounds like quite an ask, but Matthew Fox seems to think it\u2019s an appropriate aspiration, for people of faith. He wrote: \u2018I am reminded of the biblical use of the term saint in the book of Acts. That it applies to each of us. All who are attempting to imitate the Christ in their lives merit the title of “saint.” Some do it more fully than others and are willing to let go of more to get the job done.\u2019 Words by Matthew Fox (and if his phrase \u2018attempting to imitate the Christ\u2019 doesn\u2019t\u2019 work for you there are of course various substitutions you could make: \u2018to follow the Buddha\u2019, \u2018to grow in virtue\u2019, \u2018to do good\u2019.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also note that Fox says \u2018attempting\u2019 \u2013 not necessarily doing it perfectly \u2013 even the big-name saints are flawed. Their life stories are complicated, often morally ambivalent, and occasionally improbable (as Richard Coles put it), but they have ultimately all dedicated their lives to God or to the Good, and for all their stumblings and mis-steps this is the guiding principle that shapes everything they do. When they (inevitably) encounter challenges, or things go awry, they insistently return to this North Star. Saints are at least as messed-up as the rest of us, and yet, they (and we) are holy too. And, as James Fadiman and Robert Frager observe, in their book Essential Sufism, \u2018many saints are hidden. Their outer lives do not look any different from the lives of their neighbours, although their inner lives are radiant with the Divine Presence. It is said that God hides the saints and lovers of God so that people will think that everyone else might be a saint and will therefore love and care for one another.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder what you made of the poem for meditation, \u2018Of Saints\u2019, by Kevin Hart? In it, the angel describes three sorts of saint \u2013 the sort whose life looks simple and maybe even lamentable but who God loves dearly \u2013 the sort who is scrupulous in thought and deed for God and strives to follow a righteous path (this sort are typically quite difficult to live with) \u2013 and the sort (this one is hardest to interpret) who is full of wonder and praise and acceptance of all-that-is (perhaps?). And the poem closes with the angel\u2019s question: \u2018Which one are you? Not that you have a choice, but day must see you be the one you are.\u2019 And I suppose that\u2019s a question I hope you\u2019ll take away from today\u2019s service and ponder in your heart. Which one are you? The question reminds me of Thomas Merton\u2019s well-known saying: \u2018for me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I draw to a close I want to offer one last perspective on saints from Sam Keen. He wrote: \u2018A saint is a person who is filled with wholesome desires, who is moved by an eros to become capacious, creative, magnanimous, and fully alive.\u2019 Now, isn\u2019t that something to aspire to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I want to sign off by addressing you with these words by Unitarian Universalist Susan Brown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Welcome all you saints! Yes! You are saints, all of you are saints,
for it is not by perfection that we are sainted, rather it is by our actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our presence.
It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our giving.
It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our living.
It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our gathering together in love,
with love, to become a nurturing, welcoming, healing and faithful worshipping community.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May it be so, for the greater good of all. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection by Jane Blackall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An audio recording of this sermon is available:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nhttps:\/\/www.kensington-unitarians.org.uk\/pod2011\/KU_jane.blackall_hybrid_sermon_29.10.23.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n