I moved into a new home last year and to my
surprise, the house came with a saint! This sweet little saint draped and entrenched in blue, right there
in my backyard. I am guessing, it’s the virgin Mary. I’m guessing because I grew
up Protestant, in a Spanish speaking Pentecostal church where there was no
imagery besides Sunday school illustrations. Sightings of such man-made icons,
like this one, conjure up visions of my
childhood church members screaming IDOLATRIA!
So when I was confronted with this icon in my yard,
I didn’t know what quite to think or do. “Should we remove it?” I thought. I
mean, we’re not Catholic, it doesn’t mean anything to us. But as time went on,
we just let it stay. She was there first, by all means, who were we to remove
her, she wasn’t harming anyone or anything.
As time went on I began to feel close to this
saint. I would worry that she was getting rained or snowed on in the winter or
that the wild greenery of the summer would practically bury her. I know she
wasn't real, but I began to have a certain kind of affection for her. She has
become a part of the family. Her presence in the backyard became palpable.
I live in a largely Catholic neighborhood, or
at least it used to be largely Catholic. Now there are people from everywhere
with various beliefs living here, but Catholic remnants still remain. I see
saints in some of the houses on my block.
There is
also a big Catholic church on my block as is the school that accompanies it.
These, together, practically take up the entire street.
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| This was actually taken late at night |
I have to say that I enjoy this holy presence in
my neighborhood and it's not only images, but holy texts that abound as one
passes the church. This "open 24 hours" sign intrigued me. I was
like, "what? The church is open even at 3 am?” I don't know how they did
it but this seemed right. I don't know if I would ever need the church at 3 am
but just to know that it was, well, this Pentecostal girl was already won
over.
This "come to me " sign meets me those
mornings I'm scheduled to work in the museum, on on my way to the train. What a great reminder right there in the open. I like these holy markers, along the way, these spiritual sign posts make me feel and desire the
holy and otherworldly in my life.
Maybe the Catholic Church was onto something.
The Nicene Creed talks about God being in the visible and invisible. The
Catholic Church got the visible part right. My Protestant background was more interested
in the invisible (except when it came to
women’s dress, that’s another post). But in the real world, the invisible
becomes visible through things seen with the naked eye; art, icons, church
architecture, sacred texts, you and I.
All these bring us a little closer to God, especially the last two, when
we do indeed act like Him.
So yes, we kept the saint. I like seeing this
God symbol in my backyard as we eat, as the kids play, as I screen print and
make art in this open space. In my mundane, daily life, God is there, and this
sweet little saint tells me so everyday.
