The saints are ridiculously cool

-
 
Gall and his bear

Having spent the past year researching into the saintsi have come to the conclusion that they are ridiculously cool. They are people who by and large went, nope, not doing that, doing this instead and then went on to discover incredible new things. They were so fantastic that people began to tell stories of them doing incredible things. Like taming bears, or saying mass on the backs of giant fish.

It is good to have an open mind - is the first lesson i have learnt being a Steiner teacher. So although people like to say - usually academics and scientists - ah there are children stories and these things never really happened, who is to say they did not. It is very fashionable now to read communicating with animals as taming one's shadow side, however, i do believe that it is highly possible that Gall may well have had a pet bear who used to hang out with him. Why the heck not? People have pet dogs and bears are a little bigger but they have deep affections and are quite humanlike in their consciousness. Why wouldn't Gall have had a pet bear? Just like why the heck wouldn't have Francis been able to speak with birds? Or seen the consciousness in the elements? Shamans do the same thing. Francis probably had a shamanic consciounesses.

The best things about the saints though is how they don't really care about convention. Female saints will mostly go, yes it is true i am a woman, but it does not mean i am idiotic. I can take arms, i can write and read, i can travel, i can play music, i can speak the truth. I loved Meera who said, i am not going to commit suttee because you know what my REAL husband is not him, it is Lord Krishna and so am actually not going to immolate myself on this funeral pyre. you can bugger off thank you.

Male saints say, yes i am a man, but it does not mean that i have to be an idiot and follow the family trade, or kill people, or marry and be a good husband, or do those things which are expected of me. I can sail and see the world, i can write poems and books, i can inspire courage in my fellow man... i can stand up to power and say look this is not right and i am unafraid. Even if the consequences are death.

They are such inspirations. If anyone, anyone at all is having a bad day or thinks your life is shit, there is no better cure than reading about a saint and their life. I also enjoy the idea that they are standing there, looking after us. Watching us from the other side. People who in this life did as much good as they could have and then when released from it continue to help us from the other side. It makes my heart soar with delight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

The Central Business District

-
Image
The Thinker in the OUE building Yesterday i attended a talk which was organised by some environmentalists here. It was held in the NTUC building which was in the middle of the business district. It has been years since i have been here, so i set out early to walk about the place. Everything is very very large  I arrived during rush hour and people were simply pouring out of the MRT. The crowds were swarming down escalators and out of offices - but they were not overground. No, they were underground, at the MRT. In fact thee was no one above ground. For the business district at rush hour, above ground was eerily quiet! There must be dozen of buildings which look like these To think that hundreds of thousands of people work in places like this. I used to work in a place like this. Admittedly these buildings are far more swishy and very sleek. It was like being in some espionage film set in the future. There were rehearsals for the National Day Parade and Sarah...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more