The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
November 1, 2009
Vol. 12 no. 42

Everything But...

Officially, we do not believe in saints. There are no nomination committees in Protestant denominations charged with producing a short-list of “blessed ones” ready to acquire the ceremonial halo. Nobody gets to wear the title of Saint Bill or Betty - which would be pretty awkward when you think of it, especially in introductions at parties.

That we don’t believe in official, confirmed and sealed saints does not mean that we do not believe that there are many people who may properly be called saints. In fact, the real problem is that there are way too many saintly people out there to count and officially recognize. Selecting only a very few loses the point that God sets us apart at critical moments to be something different - which in religious language is called “holy.”

When all is said and done, most saints are “part-time.” The other part-time is filled with being typically human and that means a little less than saintly activity or thoughts. If you are hankering to be a saint, keep in mind that you do not choose your hours; somebody Else does for you.

What kind of things do saints do? Some are known for their praying and some saints prayed a lot. Some saints wrote wonderfully insightful books about the spiritual life. Others were good administrators and pastors, so a certain number of bishops have been named saints. Being a bishop, however, is no guarantee of sainthood; it may even be a detriment! For the record, when the United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 the office of bishop was not included.

Some saints have been martyrs, killed for their faith in many different circumstances, while many have worked with and healed the poor and sick. Most saints here have been of the latter variety. We need more.