The Lives of Saints. The murder of Becket. Giuseppe Desa and hair shirts. Henry II walking barefoot to Canterbury. The Children's Crusade.
You know how sometimes your brain wants to make a connection, and you can't quite tease it out?
They were just like us.
Just. Like. Us.
More later, after this stews a while.
9 comments:
I used to begin my lecture about Thomas walking back and forth across the room, speaking in a conversational tone, discussing the relationship of Henry and Thomas, the difficulties that arose... then I'd stop in front of the desk of one of my senior boys, pause, and SLAM my fist down so hard it hurt and say, "Won't someone rid me of this turbulent priest?" And ask what they thought Henry meant? The entire class would jump, every year. Boy, I loved Thomas a'Beckett day! Bet none of my students ever forgot who he was.
My main goal in teaching was that they realize exactly that..."they" were just like us. How else can you appreciate literature?
Mac you should definitely take a look at The Golden Legend.
FAbulous link, Lisa. Thanks for posting it!
Where's that popcorn eating smiley when you need it? I'm looking forward to when the lightbulb goes on over your head, Mac.
Jenclair--it sounds like a marvelous lecture. *grin*
Lisa--Thank you. As always, it's a terrific link.
Dawno, heh-I'm getting closer to making the connections I need to make.
I had one of those epiphanies, too, when I was very young and our biggest enemy in the whole wide universe was Nikita Kruschev. I watched on TV a line of old people filing past Russia's monument to loved ones lost in WWII. I was stunned. They were crying. They obviously cared for their dead. They looked like people I knew. They were... They were... just like us. It was my first taste of 'politics' and how those who are called 'politicians' manipulate those of us on either side of an issue.
That's the thing, Mac...they were people who did extraordinary things. Whether you believe in the Catholic Church's designation of "saint" or not, it's people moved by something greater than themselves to do something extraordinary (even if some of us might see those extraordinary things as nutty.)
as for the "flying monk"--funny thing is that nowadays people from the West go to placed like India to see people who claim to levitate. Odd how what we disown as "fairy stories" in our own culture is acceptable, even sought after, by Westerners, in another culture. go figure.
I thought it was hair shirts and penance, too.
I didn't check your link yet-does it mention that the monks and priests didn't know Thomas was wearing one? Whomever it was who undressed him started crying when they saw it, because they realized he was serious all along.
Ah, I do love history...
In totally unrelated reading yesterday, I learned that the Children's Crusade was the inspiration for the tale of the Pied Piper.
Just a bit of trivia.
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