Nov. 2, 2003. 01:00 AM Saints exist in every religion on Earth TOM HARPUR The Toronto Star
For more than 1,000 years, the now nearly two billion Christians of the globe have celebrated two major festivals on the first two days of November. Yesterday, Nov. 1, was All Saints Day. Today, Nov. 2, is normally the date of All Souls Day, but, as has happened this year, whenever it falls on a Sunday it is moved ahead to Nov. 3. So, to summarize, yesterday was All Saints, tomorrow is All Souls (for this year). You may well be asking, "So what?" Well, a lot is at stake for everybody once you realize the deeper meanings behind it all. All Saints Day is appointed for remembering all Christian saints, known and unknown, who have been heroes of service to God and humanity from the beginning of time. Narrow church dogmas, I know, would try to restrict this term to purely sectarian explanations dealing with "our people," "our communities," "our traditions," or even to those select persons technically canonized by churchy rules and rites � as has been recently happening in Rome. But, human understanding has moved far ahead of that kind of doctrinaire exclusivity. In any case, let's deal with the latter part first, that saints refers only to those duly canonized by the Vatican or other hierarchies. The New Testament makes it plain on almost every page that each single member of the ekklesia, the body of the Christ, is considered a saint. Paul in his writings constantly refers to every member of the early churches as "called to be saints," i.e. holy in the sense of being whole people dedicated to the service, care and encouragement of one another and to the larger human family. There were to be no exclusive elites in spite of some achieving heroic stature. But, as hinted last week, there are saints in every religion on Earth. What's more, in my travels I have met atheist and agnostic saints, people wholly dedicated, under sometimes appalling circumstances, to the relief of human suffering and need. Who would dare not to reverence and respect their self-giving and utter singleness of heart regardless of their possession or lack of "proper" religious credentials? Certainly God, whom the Bible says is "no respecter of persons," would never draw the sanitized distinctions so glibly at hand for the self-righteous judges in our midst. So, All Saints, was and is an important day, a moment to think with gratitude not of the celebrities of public charity � the winners of the Order of Canada or the Nobel Peace Prize � but those unseen, unknown thousands, yes millions of people next door or down the street, or in dark hospices for AIDS patients in African villages, in hospitals in Calcutta or on the streets of Nairobi, who tend to the sick and dying, who feed the hungry, who befriend the homeless, who listen to the lonely, who in their own quiet way fight for justice every waking hour. These are the unsung folk who make a more humane and human life possible for everyone. They're forwarding the evolutionary thrust � though but a fraction � every day. But, what of tomorrow, this year's All Souls? That is the great festival of affirmation of the truth that death is indeed "swallowed up in victory." On it, the Church reminds the whole of humanity of a truth far larger than the institution itself can ever, or indeed will ever, be. Though traditionally the Church came to restrict its belief in a fuller dimension of life, a glory beyond compare, after death to only "the faithful," � to those considered by the proper authorities to have died holding the approved credentials (what a power trip!), this was not so at its beginnings. For example, such brilliant theologians as Origen of Alexandria (c.185 to 254 C.E.) believed that ultimately what the name actually says � All Souls � would enter and inherit the "life of the age to come." We call this view Universalism and it is certainly one I share with many true Christians today. Origen, of course, was later declared a heretic for this belief among others, and not only were his books banned or burned, anyone who dared to read them was excommunicated (damned). I am unable to be in Toronto tomorrow. If I were, I would slip, as I do whenever I have free moments downtown, into the silence of St. James Cathedral and light some candles. There would be one for Sue's mum and mine, one for our dads, one for Sue's brother, Ivan, and one for all souls everywhere who have gone on before. They are all around us. The flames symbolize our never-failing "reasonable hope" of this reality. --------------------------------------------- Theologian and author Tom Harpur's books focus on spiritual growth. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
