a holy human

A novena of Saint Charbel sits in front of me and on the first day I am asked to state my need.  Direction.  Meaning.  Purpose.  Who suffers paralysis because of suffering?  Lose a child, a loved one, unable to move to God, unable to believe, one of faith can only hope a creator has mercy and gives comfort and peace.  The Lord’s prayer, in obedience, speak. 

http://www.saintcharbel-annaya.com

You live like a hermit, like St. Charbel, you will receive nothing in this world because you have taken a vow of poverty, obedience and chastity.  Chosen to be a hermit you renounce everything, family, friends, fun, all in order to pray to God.  And when you die, you die.  But then crazy shit happens.  In St. Charbel’s case beams of light blaze out of his coffin, sweat and blood cover his body and fifty years after his death, his body has yet to corrupt. 

All evidence of holiness.   And so the question, the thought really, rises.  God showed to everyone that this man gave his life completely to worshiping him so people would see and believe.  Was God’s declaration of this man’s life meant to bring people to pray to this man, to become an intercessor?  Evangelicals will scoff but miracles, healings, prayers answered say this is the evidence of intercessory prayer.  Evangelicals will question the leaders of the church, accusing them of profiting, of manipulating people’s belief, steering away the faithful from Jesus, the sole mediator. 

Why can’t God work in different ways, why must anyone believe there is only one way to approach holiness.  Two thousand years ago Jesus lived, preached, died and rose again.  In 1950, St. Charbel’s body was still intact, like St. Francis Xavier.  That doesn’t happen unless God permits it and if God permits it, it is significant, a holy human a little closer to us.  How to explain the intercessor, how to explain the second relic, a rosary Mother Teresa gave to Girgic, it’s not the object, it’s the faith and if it brings a soul closer to God, there’s no way on heaven or earth such an object, that such a man can mislead.  Imagine evil tricking the faithful, Evangelicals will say yes, one’s faith is Jesus only, and for them that’s ok, for others the life of a man or woman who gave it all up to worship God brings God closer to humanity.  The spirit is strong, the divine spirit is accessible. 

The protestants, while I will politely disagree with them, are far more dangerous when they state such belief is evil.  There is nothing that inflames passions than an evangelical whose certainty aligns more with twelve century Islamic heretics than with a common faith.  

I read the first novena and then I laid down.  The weekend is for sleep around here.  But as I lay down I grabbed the book and opened it randomly to Daniel and after God reveals King Neb’s dream Daniel breaks into poetry:

            Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever,

            to whom belong wisdom and might;

            He changes times and seasons

And that’s where I stopped.  Too drowsy to read on, too confused to understand.  When in history has time changed?  Time is relative, it’s slow to some, fast for others.  But to say God changes time and the seasons, when has spring become winter, or fall become summer.  Poetry isn’t meant to be taken literally and interpretations of poetry are simply admirable not possible.  Proof is our history God has never altered the ticking clock. Nevertheless, Daniel says it as if it can only be read literally and yet everyone who reads knows otherwise, so why did he speak like this?  Caught in a moment of ecstasy, an encounter with divinity, he got caught up in the moment.

There’s lots of evil in the news today, very depressing to say the least.  Shall we leave it alone, time to lay down again. 

A two hour nap, the second one today, wow, it’s dark now, Obama and Matteo are holding a press conference, no one has mentioned the boat people, oh here it is.  Crazy, when you got nothing to lose and you hope the people who find you will help you, crazy, the boat people don’t think they’ll find a job and a home, they dream and since when do dreams come true for thousands.  Lord, have mercy. 

There are eight days left on the border pass, I look forward to seeing it expire.  I crossed this morning for a McD’s breakfast and then stocked up at Lulus.  I’ll have one more visit to the store a week from today but I can feel the end coming and I’m glad.  Al-Ain, my home for ten years, all too familiar, is not my home anymore.  Buraimi has never been my home, I’ve never felt I could relax and be comfortable in this truck stop.