Happy Saint David's Day!

The saintly gentlemen pictured above is Saint David, the sixth century bishop and patron saint of Wales. My great gandfather emigrated from Wales to the United States at the end of the 19th century, and, even though I am now several generations removed from that land, I still feel a strong spiritual tie to the culture of my ancestral people. Subsequently, every March 1st is, for me, a day of rejoicing.

I love Saint David. Granted, the many miracles attributed to him can, in charity, be described as apocryphal; nevertheless the historic facts about this saint are still, to my mind, quite inspirational. Let me point out just three:

First, Saint David was a champion of animal rights. Almost eight centuries before Francis of Assisi came upon the scene, Dewi Sant (as he is known in Welsh) instructed the monks of his order to respect animals by pulling the plows which tilled their land themselves--thereby saving horses or oxen the labor. Additionally, he and his monks were strict vegetarians. A little-known fact about David is that he is also the patron saint of vegetarians.

Second, this saint was a champion of education, founding monestaries for the perpetuation of learning all over Wales. The monks were encouraged not only to read and study, but to be writers as well. Subsequently, David is considered patron saint of poets.

Thirdly, David's contribution to the theological development of Christianity in the British Isles was his faithful preaching against the heresy of Pelagianism. This was a doctrine which taught that human beings are perfectly capable of finding their way to God without any divine intervention, thank you very much. Basically, Pelagians denounced the concept of Original Sin in favor of a doctrine of self-reliance.

Granted, Pelagian ideas seem very much in vogue in today's culture of vanity, selfishness, and pride of achievement. One may well ask, "Who needs God or the Church? I have my own spark of divine fire, and I can chart my own spiritual path." But what if you can't find your own way to spiritual peace and enlightenment? Does this mean that you are a reject?

St. David--and, indeed, all of historic Christain orthodoxy--has argued that true enlightenment comes when we learn to surrender our arrogant desire to prove our own worth. Proving ourselves is an impossible task, anyway. How would we know we had done enough? And by whose standard? There will always be someone more intelligent, wealthy, attractive, accomplished, and, yes, spiritually enlightened than we are. Let's just admit it, shall we? We are born into a dysfunctional world, and we are the natural heirs of its dysfunction. It's like this: if you're born on the beach, you're going to get sandy.

The Good News is really an admission of our own helplessness. This is something that the Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve-Step programs have always known. We don't really control much of anything ourselves. We did not choose to be born, and we don't choose for God to love us--God just does. It's not about us. When we can surrender our egos to God's grace, we can truly find peace.

EVERYTHING--life, the world, our relationships, our very selves--is a gift from God. None of us chose the sacrificial, self-emptying love shown to us by Christ on the cross. It is all a gift. When we can accept life as gift, we can be grateful for it. If we can be grateful, we can be joyful.

This is what David preached, and it is this sense of joy and faith which, I believe, has characterized my ancestral people throughout the centuries. Wales is a tiny nation, for generations vassel to the English throne. It is not mighty in economics or military strength, but it is rich in a spirit of joy--a spirit which its people call hwyl. It is hwyl which gives the Welsh people our most prominent characteristic--the desire to sing our guts out whenever we have the chance.

So Diolch, Dewi Sant. Thanks, Saint David, for your witness. And may you all have a blessed St. David's Day. Be Thankful, be joyful, and sing a little, won't you?