Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5
“Be gentle in generosity, untiring in love, just in all things. Bede speaks of Bishop Colman and his predecessors, Aidan and Finan: The sole concern of the teachers of those days was to serve God, not the world, and to feed the soul, not the belly. The religious habit, therefore, was held in great respect at that time, so that whenever a cleric or monk appeared he was welcomed gladly by everyone as a servant of God. Even if one was discovered passing on the roads they would run up to him and bow their heads, and were glad to be signed with the cross by his hand or blessed by his lips; and they paid close heed to such men’s exhortations. On the Lord’s Day they gathered eagerly in the church or monasteries, not to get food for their bodies but to listen to the Word of God; and if a priest came by chance to their village the people at once came together, eager to receive from him the word of life. The priests and clerics themselves visited the villages for no other reason than to preach, baptize, visit the sick and, in sum, to care for the souls…”
The Venerable Bede on Colman, Aidan, and Finan of Lindisfarne in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 675-676.
There is wisdom in following in the footsteps of these saints.
We must “be gentle in generosity, untiring in love, just in all things.” We must be people who “serve God, not the world, and to feed the soul, not the belly” so that we remain fruitful in all things. And we must be people who “care for the souls” of people by giving them the “word of life.”
Let’s pause and remember the setting.
Colman, Aidan, and Finan lived in the 500s-600s, when the people did not have Bibles. They were living conduits to dispense the Word that was being copied by monks by hand. So “attending church” in those days was getting the bread of life to feed the soul and not just fellowship.
Common folk did not have Bibles in those days.
In present day if you want to pursue this way of service, I recently endorsed a great book. Stewardship for the Care of Souls by Nathan Meador and Heath R. Curtis. Nathan is a friend and Daily Meditations reader. Consider Nathan and Heath as modeling how to care for souls like Colman, Aidan, and Finan.
Check it out.