A Saintly Rose

Last updated on: October 31, 2013 at 6:24 am by Elizabeth Nordquist

A Saintly Rose 2013-10-31T06:24:22-07:00 Elizabeth Nordquist

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It is almost November, All Saints Day, and the roses that still bloom in my garden come from a saint named Marianne. Marianne was a parishoner in a church I served. When I first became aware of her, she was married to a Husband-in-Charge, so it was very hard for me to know much about who she was. Faithfully occupying the same pew every Sunday morning, she seemed like one of those members of the flock you could count on to be there, but not a lot else. What I didn’t know then was that she was a first rate, innovative elementary school teacher, who was beloved of a host of previous students that she had taught in years past. She also taught other teachers to teach well, kindly and effectively. And then, she retired from regular teaching, and then she became a widow. It was at that juncture that I began to see her for the saint that she was.

In my tradition a saint is one who follows God-in-Christ, and Marianne did that gloriously, and had done so long before it was visible to me. This person I had seen as quiet and passive was an active purveyor of of acts of mercy and justice. As a deacon she was wiling to come alongside the most complicated situations of need with love and grace. As an elder she was willing to brave facing the loud and shrill voices of entitlement and legacy to advocate for those on the margins. She waded into the complex waters of family conflict in order to be peace where there was no peace. And she was fearless in her pursuit of the love and wisdom of the Holy One, driving by herself across several states in order to spend Easter at a monastery that observed the rituals and rhythms of Holy Week.

When I left that parish for a new call, Marianne gave a me a gift of creative joy and love that has become emblematic to me of what Scripture calls the “beauty of holiness.” In the many weeks that we had been sitting together in a contemplative prayer group, sometimes weeping, sometiems rejoicing, we had discovered a poem by Marge Piercy, called “Sutter’s Gold and the Rainbow’s End.” Speaking of particular breed of rose, Piercy says:

I picked the Sutter’s Gold to remind me/I may love myself a little/even when my work is done,/that many things are beautiful beside art,/that if the rosebush can sit in the frozen earth during a dormant season/maybe I can learn to work without/anxiety running its ripsaw in my throat/to bear those peculiar paper flowers/which carry their centre/ both birth and death, let go/and live on.

Marianne and I both loved that word of hope in the season in which we were living, and shared our delight. When time came for me to move on, she ordered a Sutter’s Gold Rose and three others to be delivered to my garden, to me, a non-gardener with a propensity for a black thumb, and had them planted where they continue to bloom today seventeen years later, a continual reminder each morning of the beauty of God’s creation–roses, unlikely people, holiness in action.

The old hymn says, The world is bright with the joyous saints who loved to do Jesus’ will. My world today is bright with the saintliness of Marianne…and of Howard, and of Peggy, and of Charles, and of Fran, and so many more. Thanks be to God for all the saints!

Previous Post

October 18, 2013

Speaking the Truth for Love

Next Post

November 9, 2013 Humble Pie

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category action Advent animals attentiveness Beauty blessing body Book Review Brigid Bruce Reyes-Chow celebration change Christmas church clergy misconduct community compassion creation David Hockney discernment Easter Eastertide election Epiphany faith faithfulness feminism forgiveness friendship God of all seasons Gods world Grace gratitude Healing hesychia Hildegard of Bingen Holy Spirit Holy Week hope hospitality humility inclusiveness invitation Jesus Christ journey joy justice kindness labyrinth Lent letting go Light listening Love Love & Salt making space marriage Mary Mechtild of Magdeburg memory Mothering mourning music ordination patience paying attention peacemaking Pentecost perseverance pilgrimage praising Prayer preaching presence reconciliation remembering repentance restoration sacred conversation sainthood Scripture reflection Seasons seeing clearly serving silence soul friend spiritual direction spiritual practice St. Francis storytelling suffering time Transfiguration Sunday transformation traveling trust truth-telling Uncategorized wisdom witness women Word work worship

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs say about hard work?

Select your answer to see how you score.

It is pointless Diligence brings profit Lazy people win Sleep always