For Wilshire Baptist Church
I’ve been dreaming regularly about my father. Ever since his passing in July, he’s been a frequent character in the overnight movies that play in my head. He hasn’t been the lead, and in fact he hasn’t had a speaking part at all, but he’s been there on the screen. If the dream includes a car ride, he’s been in the car. Or a meal around the table? Yep, sitting there too. Even in some of the weird, twisted tales that play at my midnight cinema, I can look across a scene and he’ll be there – just quietly being himself.
I think his regular presence in my dreams says something about the fact that he was always there in my life, even when he wasn’t actually with me. His influence and his example were always active in my subconscious I suppose, and they still are.
That’s the way it is with the people in our lives who we regard as “saints.” Their influence is pervasive — in a good way of course. Keep in mind that they are saints, not because they declared themselves so, but because they earned that title by their actions and deeds. And unlike the canonized saints of the church, these saints are not called saints in any official way. We’re hesitant to do that and rightfully so, because our saints are not perfect. They’re human; they stumble and make mistakes. But the way they admit, grow and learn from their mistakes just enhances their sainthood.
My last memories of my father are of the long nights I spent with him in the hospital when he was not at his best, and neither was I. Under the influence of powerful drugs, he said and did things he wouldn’t normally say and do. Under the influence of stress and fatigue and frustration, I took it personally, lost my temper, and said things I shouldn’t have. But in the sober, sweeter light of day, we would always apologize to each other — and he always got those words out first.
And that’s another thing about saints: They’re usually the first ones to step up and do what’s right, and the last ones to take credit. They’re also the last ones to admit or even realize they are saints.
All Saints Day is coming on Tuesday, Nov. 1. It’s a good day to take a moment and thank God for the saints we’ve known in our life. It’s also a good day to reach out and thank a living saint or two if we can. We don’t need to tell them what we’re doing. Real saints don’t go for that type of recognition anyway. That’s part of what makes them a saint.