December 16, 2013
The Third Week in Advent

Saints lurk among us, hiding from view mostly because they themselves don't even know how holy they are.   And then comes a day of cold and misery, of "rude wind's wild lament and bitter weather,” when we need a Wenceslas to step into the snow before us and help us find a way through.   "Heat was in the very sod  which the saint had printed," the song tells us.  So we walk in those footprints, better for his courage and compassion.

The Christmas story is full of saints, like Joseph, who believed an impossible tale and took Mary as his wife, perhaps later fashioning a remarkable son into a man in his small-town carpenter's shop.   And Mary, blue-gowned saint whose "let it be" welcomed God into the world.  "Ave Maria!," the world still sings.  And there were the shepherds, too, unnamed saints, who raced to worship the Lord in a stable, and who gave him a name--Good Shepherd. 

This weekend I conducted a memorial service for one of our saints, here in this town far from Bethlehem.   He sat in the same pew in church each week, near the back on the left.  He told me recently that he was reading the Bible straight through for the seventh time, still finding new things.  He was a good and gentle friend to many.   Sitting in his back yard, chipmunks would scamper into his lap for treats.  One spring day his daughter found him cutting bits of string to put out so that the birds could have extra material for their nests.    Kindness marked his life, and we are still walking in his footsteps.  Ave, Vern!

Saints Among Us

There is always bitter weather,
and wind's wild lament,
a cry in the night when it seems
we are not fit for this place--
this world too cold, too dark,
for poor creatures like us.
We spend long days and years
in a wilderness,
get lost in the desert or forest,
come at last to an inn
where there is no room.
But sometimes there is a light,
a living sign, a gift:
we find him out there,
cutting string,
hanging bits of it on branches
where sparrows may find
something strong and soft
to make a nest.
God, be with us
in our winters.
Send to us your bright ones,
Christmas saints,
to help make this world
into a finer nest.

--Timothy Haut, December 16, 2013