Commentary on the readings for Sunday 1 November 2009  Trinity 21 ALL SAINTS DAY Isaiah 66, 20 - 23 What does 'saint' mean? Look at the word 'Holy'. In "The Idea of the Holy" Rudolf Otto says the experience of the Holy cannot be put into words. He describes the Holy as "the numinous a mysterium tremendum et fascinans". That which we experience as mysterious, tremendous, fascinating: a sense of the otherness of being which may both attract us in awe and overwhelm us in terror. It is the "beyond all understanding" God. Some people have a sense of 'holiness' about them whose lives sound a note which resonates with the Holy, the Greater than themselves. Such people we call Saints. People who can help us to respond to 'God' as a note played on the piano draws us in to share its harmonics. In the Hebrew bible the Lord God is 'Holy', (Lev.19.2) that is set apart from, different from, and transcendent over everything in the created order, and therefore uniquely worthy of awe and worship (Isaiah 6, 1-5). Religion in all its manifestations can be seen as attempts to 'own and domesticate' the Holy. The bible suggests that God stands in special relation to parts of his creation. Jerusalem can be Holy (Isaiah 48, 2), the Temple (Isaiah 64,10), the Sabbath (Exodus 31, 14) and even a entire nation. So it is that Israel is seen as set apart to the Lord God, God's own people.  The word 'Holy' therefore has two different senses: any person or place can be given the attribute of being holy by religious designation, or those persons whose lives are experienced as expressing the Holy. The sense of 'set apart by God' is an arbitrary expression created by religious dogma which may then become destructive as is seen in the approach to Jerusalem today. The reading has this sense of a religious view of the Holy where the 'chosen people' will discover "the new Heaven and the new earth" and then everyone will be included. This sense of the special nature of Israel really creates a discordant sense of the Holy, distorting the idea of the Unity of Being by suggesting that some people and places are set apart as 'special'. This is what gives to any religion a sense that they have a special place as set apart by the Holy. All religions have people they call saints who reflect in their lives a conformity with their ideas. It will therefore depend on which kaleidoscope you look through what patterns of holiness will be seen. Those who are seen as saints will reflect the idea of the holy that fits in with the perspective of the particular tradition. Then there are those whose lives give a sense of Holiness, of Wisdom, usually in stillness and tranquilly within themselves whether they are 'religious' or not, and then there are places, and moments in life which are 'numinous'. The reading suggests that there can be a time when everyone will be held in harmony in a universal response to the Holy.   The Epistle. Revelations 7, 2 - 12 The book of Revelation brings us into poetry, metaphor and great music: the 'single note on the piano' has now a new key, using archaic symbols of conflict, suffering, victory and vindication. It is an incredible and powerful expression of a 'religious' view of the holy written for the newly forming Churches who are facing persecution from Rome - the Beast in the book. It takes the positive and negative forces, the yin and yang, experienced in the world and makes of them a 'cosmic' drama. This reading says how Christians will get on when 'the end' comes. First 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel will be 'marked with a seal on their foreheads'. This number of 'specially chosen ones' is used by Jehovah's Witnesses to claim that it refers to them! Read the bible as literal and see what happens! The universal, inclusive language of v.9 is not as all inclusive as it sounds as those who stand before the Lamb are those 'who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb' v.14. A non-religious view is that all who are not in the centre of their own world but look out to the needs of others Matthew 24 vs 31 to the end are in 'the kingdom of heaven. For Christians the Cross is that statement of looking beyond the self, holding the suffering of others, and is the greatest human expression of what it means to be a Saint - given wholly over to the Holy: 'Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit'. Luke 23. V46. Those from any 'faith' or none who approach to this experience in their own lives are called Saints.   The Gospel - Matthew Ch. 5 vs.1-12 THE BEATITUDES give a place to the 'humble and meek' the Magnificat. The 'harmonies' of life are discovered when the 'mighty' are put down, and the 'humble and meek' exalted. They are those who are 'poor in spirit' don't puff themselves up.   'Those who mourn', who look beyond themselves in love for another.  'The meek' who will 'inherit' the earth - not by wealth or stealth or force of arms but by entering into the harmonies of 'being' itself.  'Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness', who struggle against the injustices of the world.   'The merciful' those who are open to others whoever the others are, whatever their need, they already experience 'mercy' in themselves'.   'The pure in heart' are 'playing' the music of the universe.   The 'peacemakers' are children of God - children of Being that moves always towards wholeness.  The 'persecuted for righteousness sake', are those who may be called 'saints' as they stand, with Christ, between the 'good and evil' of the world in themselves. Amnesty International.  'Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you..on my account', since, in this way, you are one with the One in whom all things hold together.   Please feel free to comment: leslie.virgo@tiscali.co.uk Click to return to 'Home Page'