Saints And Sinners

I had a few minutes while my mud mask is drying, so I thought I would take the opportunity to post. I've been so busy working lately, that I haven't had much time!

In fact, speaking of work...I had to go buy supplies yesterday. So while I was out, this guy cut me off driving. It was one of those slick looking Italian guys with a big truck that thinks the world owes him everything by nature of his very existence. You know the ones. Why is it that Italian guys always have that attitude? And they always have big trucks to match their astronomical egos. Those guys all too often seem attracted to me too, and I am not sure why. I am convinced they have a gene that predisposes them to want the wrong women, and I am definitely the wrong woman.

So anyway, after I left Hobby Lobby, it was incredibly windy. For some reason every time I go up there to buy stuffing, it's some sort of inclement weather. I had bought a few other things too, and the very long receipt blew out of my bag and across the parking lot. So I finished putting my things in the car, returned my cart and went to find the receipt. I had to find it, I just had this feeling that if I didn't find it something I had bought would need to be returned and they would hassle me about it. So here I am in the wind looking under cars and behind shrubs trying to figure out where it went.

This elderly gentleman was sitting in a car watching me with amused interest. Finally he leaned out the car window and asked what I was looking for. I told him my receipt had blown away. He said he saw it go by, and got out to help me look. He didn't even question why I wanted it so bad. We looked everywhere without success. He put his hand on my arm and said; When I was a boy we would say Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something is lost that needs to be found." Then he chuckled and said; "If the thing was found, we put a little extra in the plate on Sunday."

Sure enough after he said it, I found the receipt. So I thanked him for his help and ran to my car to get out of the wind. But I thought about it all the way home. I am Lutheran, which is often referred to as Catholic light. But we don't do anything with Saints, so I don't really know anything about them. The thing that stuck in my head was how similiar invoking the help of a saint is to the Wiccans evoking the help of a spirit or god/goddess.

I often find the similiarities between relgions and their practices interesting. Now don't get me wrong, I am a Christian through and through, and that's not going to change. But I come from a long line of ancestral celts who had pagan/druid beliefs, so I have certain "open" thoughts on things that might be considered blasphemous. I have to wonder, is invoking the help of a Saint the right thing to do? I can't say, I am not one to judge and I will admit that I never go on a trip without my necklace for protection. It has a cross, a St. Christopher's medal and a tiger eye crystal. I guess I have all my bases pretty much covered. I think it would be vain to say that I know all, or that I know the mind of God. I just try to do the best I can, and sometimes my ancestors whisperings creep in...

All I know is we found the receipt. I guess I will have to throw a little extra in the plate this Sunday just in case! *Winks*