Defining "saints"

I don't find anything comparable to the magnificent beauty of a soul and its marvelous capacity.
- Saint Teresa of Avila

Every year for our All Saints’ Day bulletin, I pick a dozen or so pictures of people to put on the cover. Some are public figures, famous and well-known. Others are known only to a few. They are a random scattering of “saints.” But by what criteria to we identify saints? Rosa Parks and Mr. Rogers were on the cover a couple years ago. That seemed right. There was a piety and a striving for justice that seemed evident. This year’s choices provoked more thought and soul-searching. The civil rights crusader and singer Odetta is on the cover. She was inspiration for so many and for a movement. Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity is there. He started such an important enterprise, but also struggled with allegations of his personal behavior in the last decade of his life. Ted Kennedy? By his own words, Ted Kennedy considered himself a flawed child of God trying to do better over a lifetime. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is pictured. The Special Olympics. Enough said. And just to balance the political spectrum, Jack Kemp. He did more than most in government over the last 25 years to try to bring equality and dignity to the disadvantaged . Tammy Faye Bakker is there. If you haven’t seen “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” watch it and we’ll discuss. John Hope Franklin, an African-American scholar and historian died this March at the age of 94 and influenced multiple generations of scholars and students in understanding human behavior and oppression. And Norman Borlaug is there--the scientist, inventor, and humanitarian, whose discoveries are estimated to have saved one billion lives worldwide. Borlaug once said: “Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all.” Norman Borlaug died just a few weeks ago.

It’s an unlikely company, along with Walter Cronkite, Molly Ivins, Dith Pran and Mary Travers. Are they all saints? Do their lives shine with the light of God? I think nearly all of them would say: “some days, yes; some days, not so much.” Just like us. We try, we hope, we strive, we vow to do better, to be better. We live our lives in such need of grace. We also live confidently because though we may never found a movement that improves the lives of millions, or win the Nobel Peace Prize, or inspire throngs through song or word—we live as God’s children. We live halting lives of obedience, trying to be kind, just, peaceful, and loving. Our souls have the capacity for beauty. That’s sainthood.