Since last Wednesday was St. Patrick’s day and, therefore, the celebration of a Patron Saint, I think now is the time to express my idea to make someone else a patron Saint. Although I am not Catholic or Anglican, I have always found the diversity of patron saints to be a very curious beast to wrap one’s brain around. In looking at a list of patron saints, I find it very neat that they not only have Patron Saints against serious diseases like cancer (St. Aldegundis) and AIDS (St. Aloysius Gonzaga) but also against more common problems like Headaches (St.Acacius of Byzantium) and earaches (St. Cornelius). Still, I do not mean to dismiss the impact people’s belief in the Saints have on their lives and the lives of others. After all, the actor Danny Thomas said a prayer to St. Jude when he faced a time of uncertainty (St. Jude being the patron saint of hopeless causes) and in gratitude of his success built a shrine to the saint which is now St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
I bring up the topic of saints because I feel it is time we consider a new patronage of one saint, St. Martha the Wonder Worker of Southern Gaul. A while back I wrote a BLOG piece about how Martha has become a patron saint of the type-a personalities out there. At the time I did not know Martha had already been canonized and is also a patron saint. However, she is the patron saint of those who do manual housework such as butlers, cooks, housemaids, and dietitians (the latter being kind of random, but who am I to argue with the Vatican?). However, I think Martha should also be called upon to be a patron saint of those who take on tasks and approach them with unflinching anal retention and attention to detail that most people take medication to stop. I even thought up a new name for her: “St. Martha among the Virgos” (Virgo being the astrological sign associated with intense attention to detail).
I’m sure most of you are familiar of the story of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus (all three of them have been canonized, a veritable Beatified Bunch) as detailed in the 10th chapter of Luke. While Martha, as only Martha can, works hard to prepare the house for their guest (Jesus), Mary is sitting around all the while listening to Jesus and Martha protests. Jesus tells Martha to not be mad but that only one thing is needed and Mary has chosen it. The fact that Martha listened to what he said and obeyed, in my opinion, speaks volumes about her faith. Had I been in her position I may have said: “Ok, then fix your own $%&# dinner!”
Although it is apparent the Bible story favored Mary in this case, Martha still personifies a vital part of any faith/belief that (at times) can get put on the side, putting your beliefs into action. In the new testament book of James, he writes that faith without action is dead. Islam dictates that all Muslims must engage in Zakat, a practice of charitable giving of money or deeds in an individual’s community. During my tenure as moderator of my church, I did try to make it my priority to not only talk about doing things but to do something even if it was not thought out properly and may not succeed.
Doing the heavy lifting in any group, spiritual of secular, seems to be something everyone stresses is needed, but nobody wants to do. This is understandable, it is easy to believe something but putting it into practice is always the hard part. St. Martha may serve us as an example of realizing the importance of those people willing to come forward and get their hands dirty. After all, Martha was mad because she was doing ALL the work, not because she was doing the work. Furthermore, Martha’s expression of her faithfulness was rewarded when Jesus brought her brother, Lazarus, back from the dead.
I close this post with asking you “are you a Martha?” If you’re not, that’s ok, but maybe you should think of who the Marthas are in your life and acknowledge their work and the impact it has on your faith and/or your beliefs. If you are a Martha, you may very well be overworked, under appreciated, and wonder why you are doing all this $%&^ for someone or something else. For you out there, I leave you with a writing that Mother Teresa kept on her wall at her orphanage in Calcutta that was based on “The Paradoxical Commandments” by Dr. Kent Keith:
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and your God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Who Needs Tongues of Fire? We have Rosetta Stone!
Every so often I turn on PBS just to justify my hours in front of the TV so I can say I watch things “educational.” On one particular evening, I turned on a documentary called “Scenes from a Parish,” which chronicled the attempts of a Catholic parish in Lawrence, MA to accommodate a population shift in its congregation from being primarily Anglo-American to a mixture of Anglo and Latin-American Catholics.
One thing that surprised me was the negative reaction the priest got when he tried to incorporate Spanish into some of the services. This is probably evidence that I am becoming more and more Texan. In San Antonio, you are hard pressed to find a Catholic Church that does NOT incorporate Spanish into some or all of its services and, if you go to the South Side of San Antonio, there are many churches (both Catholic and Protestant) that hold services in Spanish exclusively. To give you an example, the Catholic parish near my new home has four or five masses each week, of those only one is in English. Also, it doesn’t really fit with the stories we here in the Bible, much like the Pentecost where tongues of fire would touch people and they could understand everyone else. To be frank, if fire came from the sky and touched me, my first thought would not be “wow I can understand all these people.!” but “where’s the fire-extinguisher?”
Language is often an issue in our every day lives because it serves as something that can separate us from other people. Debates continue over the topic of bilingual education, being able to speak another language fluently becomes an increasingly marketable skill, and anyone who has traveled to a place and does not speak the language knows that it can be frustrating at times. That is probably why language plays such an important role in many evangelist’s training, there are even groups dedicated to translating the Bible into all the worlds languages. Furthermore, language is rarely something that is black and white. When KFC tried to market their restaurants in China, the mistranslated their slogan: “Finger Licking Good” so the Chinese slogan said, “Eat your Fingers.”
In looking for Biblical examples about what to do about language or anything else that divides us, I came upon Paul’s poetic words in Galatians 3:38: “There is neither Jew nor Greek…” Although Paul was quite the wordsmith, I must confess I find many of his writings too lofty and an example of how idealized people can sound if not talking to someone face to face (Why do you think I keep a BLOG?).
About now is when we ask that question: “What Would Jesus Do?” I honestly don’t like this question and prefer to ask: “what DID Jesus do?” Jesus did not focus on people’s differences, he focused on the things that we had in common. Many of the aspects of his ministry focused on common needs and concerns everyone has such as Food, Healing, Water, and (most importantly) the need for the support of others.
In 1974, the swami Srila Prabhupada who is known as the founder of the Hare Krishna movement saw a group of children fighting with dogs over scraps of food. This scene disturbed him (as it probably would many of us) and he told his disciples that no one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry. This mandate became the foundation for what is now Food for Life Global, a ministry of the Hare Krishnas that has helped people all over the world during times of crisis and every day someone doesn’t have enough to eat. The case of FFL, I think, is very illustrative of the power of our similarities over our differences. Food For Life has made an impact in places so diverse as Pakistan, Chechnya, New Orleans, Poland, and Nicaragua. As you may guess, Krishna Consciousness isn’t something widely popular or well known in these regions, but the simple of act of provided food in times of need has helped bridge that gap.
Therefore, I think I would like everyone to take one thing with them when reading this posting, instead of looking at people in terms of how different they are, try to see what you have in common with them and build on that foundation.
One thing that surprised me was the negative reaction the priest got when he tried to incorporate Spanish into some of the services. This is probably evidence that I am becoming more and more Texan. In San Antonio, you are hard pressed to find a Catholic Church that does NOT incorporate Spanish into some or all of its services and, if you go to the South Side of San Antonio, there are many churches (both Catholic and Protestant) that hold services in Spanish exclusively. To give you an example, the Catholic parish near my new home has four or five masses each week, of those only one is in English. Also, it doesn’t really fit with the stories we here in the Bible, much like the Pentecost where tongues of fire would touch people and they could understand everyone else. To be frank, if fire came from the sky and touched me, my first thought would not be “wow I can understand all these people.!” but “where’s the fire-extinguisher?”
Language is often an issue in our every day lives because it serves as something that can separate us from other people. Debates continue over the topic of bilingual education, being able to speak another language fluently becomes an increasingly marketable skill, and anyone who has traveled to a place and does not speak the language knows that it can be frustrating at times. That is probably why language plays such an important role in many evangelist’s training, there are even groups dedicated to translating the Bible into all the worlds languages. Furthermore, language is rarely something that is black and white. When KFC tried to market their restaurants in China, the mistranslated their slogan: “Finger Licking Good” so the Chinese slogan said, “Eat your Fingers.”
In looking for Biblical examples about what to do about language or anything else that divides us, I came upon Paul’s poetic words in Galatians 3:38: “There is neither Jew nor Greek…” Although Paul was quite the wordsmith, I must confess I find many of his writings too lofty and an example of how idealized people can sound if not talking to someone face to face (Why do you think I keep a BLOG?).
About now is when we ask that question: “What Would Jesus Do?” I honestly don’t like this question and prefer to ask: “what DID Jesus do?” Jesus did not focus on people’s differences, he focused on the things that we had in common. Many of the aspects of his ministry focused on common needs and concerns everyone has such as Food, Healing, Water, and (most importantly) the need for the support of others.
In 1974, the swami Srila Prabhupada who is known as the founder of the Hare Krishna movement saw a group of children fighting with dogs over scraps of food. This scene disturbed him (as it probably would many of us) and he told his disciples that no one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry. This mandate became the foundation for what is now Food for Life Global, a ministry of the Hare Krishnas that has helped people all over the world during times of crisis and every day someone doesn’t have enough to eat. The case of FFL, I think, is very illustrative of the power of our similarities over our differences. Food For Life has made an impact in places so diverse as Pakistan, Chechnya, New Orleans, Poland, and Nicaragua. As you may guess, Krishna Consciousness isn’t something widely popular or well known in these regions, but the simple of act of provided food in times of need has helped bridge that gap.
Therefore, I think I would like everyone to take one thing with them when reading this posting, instead of looking at people in terms of how different they are, try to see what you have in common with them and build on that foundation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)