As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. Psalm 16:3
“The saints are what they are, not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else. It gives them a clarity of compassion that can find good in the most terrible criminals. It delivers them from the burden of judging others, condemning other men. It teaches them to bring the good out of others by compassion, mercy, and pardon. A man [or woman] becomes a saint not by conviction that he [or she] is better than sinners but by the realization that he [or she] is one of them, and that all together need the mercy of God.”
Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation (New Directions Books: New York, 2007) 57.
I am shifting my attention to look at compassion linked to generosity in other writers. Today I turned to Merton and was gripped by this idea, the gift of sainthood.
In a time when the world is in crisis and there’s lot’s of finger-pointing, we must recall that saints are not perfect. There are no perfect people.
Saints are people who have experienced “compassion, mercy, and pardon” and so they extend it to others. This is how to stand out as majestic and as the object of God’s delight.
When we combine generosity and compassion we actually work to bring out the best in others. We multiply the impact of our living, giving, serving, and loving.
The Apostle Paul labeled the recipients of his letters as “the saints” in their cities. God has distributed us all over the earth. Let’s generously live out our identity.