Ascension : News From The Grotto -Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Shari Parkhill) 11.11.2010 (Article Archived on 25.11.2010)

This past week, we have celebrated All Saints, the feast in which we remember the saints, and their sacrifice to the world.

This past week, we have celebrated All Saints, the feast in which we remember the saints, and their sacrifice to the world.  What we tend to forget is that the Saints all started out as ordinary people until something occurred in their lives that proved that they were more special than the rest of us.  They stood up to tyranny, injustice, prejudice and intolerance and showed the world that good people could make a difference.

I watched the movie “Amazing Grace” this weekend.  I haven’t been that moved by a movie for a long time.  It was the story of William Wilberforce, and his fight for the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain.  It took a huge toll on him, emotionally and physically, but along with Thomas Clarkson, and others opposed to the inhumanity of the trade in human beings, they prevailed.   It took a quarter of a century, but they never gave up.

These regular people were saints to those they fought for, and for those who believe in the equality of all people.  It reminds us that extraordinary people are all around us.  Everyday saints, doing what they can, in whatever way they can, to make this world a better place.

It is the parents who raise their children to have respect for all those they meet.  It is the teachers who expand our children’s horizons, and teach them to respect the world and everyone in it.  It is the religious leaders who teach us all to be true to our faith, and to reach out to others in need.  It is those we read about who have the courage to stand up and fight for what is right in places in this world where injustice rules.  It is in the people who spend their time, energy and resources in living what they preach.

We all know extraordinary people like this.  Some we know personally, some we read about.  They are all touched with amazing grace; that touch from God that makes them put their talents to work living their faith.  They share their hope with us in so many ways.  They encourage us by their commitment and their dedication to somehow easing another’s pain, and making the world around them a better place to be.   

The words of the song “Amazing Grace”, my all time favourite hymn, remind us that God is here for all of us.  It was penned by a minister, John Newton, who had repented his years as a mariner working on slave ships.  He claimed that he was haunted by twenty thousand ghosts, those of slaves who died on his ships.  He recognized that God’s amazing grace could forgive him, and bring him peace.

For all those extraordinary, ordinary people who are saints to those they help, fight for, teach, protect, love and share their faith with, may God always shower them with amazing grace.  When they are tired of the struggle, doubting whether they are making a difference, afraid of the consequences, or suffering as a result of their actions of faith, may they always feel God’s arms around them.  May they find strength in the knowledge that they are fighting the good fight; that they are making a difference, and that people’s lives are better as a result of their commitment. 

I once attended a military tattoo in my home town of Saint John.  The city is on the coast of the Bay of Fundy and is famous for its fog.  We were seated outside in bleachers during the performance which was at the barracks on the edge of the harbour.  Towards the end of the evening, the fog started to roll in.  The closing of the tattoo was celebrated by a lone bagpiper, on the roof of one of the buildings.  He was surrounded by the swirling mist, in the gathering gloom of the night, and he played Amazing Grace.  It was such a moving moment, one I have never forgotten.

May we always remember that to those around us, we too can be extraordinary, a saint to someone in need of the gifts that we can offer.  We can be the sound of grace and forgiveness through the mists that blind a person from God’s love.

And may God bless all of us with his eternal “Amazing Grace”.