{"id":11329,"date":"2015-04-08T11:41:51","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T15:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=11329"},"modified":"2015-04-08T11:50:05","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T15:50:05","slug":"anselm-lived-at-the-wrong-scale-saints-bookclub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2015\/04\/anselm-lived-at-the-wrong-scale-saints-bookclub.html","title":{"rendered":"Anselm Lived at the *Wrong* Scale [Saints Bookclub]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In 2015, I\u2019m reading and blogging through\u00a0Ronald Knox\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0collection of sermons on Christian exemplars,\u00a0<\/em>Captive Flames: On Selected Saints and Christian Heroes<\/a>. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next portrait in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to peruse them all and\/or read along.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"(Wikimedia<\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reading Ronald Knox\u2019s sermon on St Anselm, I was reminded of my own confirmation saint, Augustine. \u00a0In Augustine\u2019s time, priests sometimes detoured to avoid cities that had a bishop-vacancy, out of fear that they would be seized and forcibly ordained to the office. \u00a0St. Anselm did not succeed in avoiding that fate.<\/p>\n

When you try to make a Saint accept a bishopric, it is like trying to make a child take medicine: the result is a perfect fury of dissent. \u00a0Calculation, argument, even personal dignity are thrown to the winds; the Saint like the child simply sticks to his point and says, \u201cI won\u2019t, I won\u2019t, I WON\u2019T.\u201d \u00a0\u2026 Anyhow, it was only by the use of physical force that they dragged the Saint to the King\u2019s bedside; and there, pressing the crozier against the knuckles that would not open so as to hold it, they elected the Archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n

[\u2026]<\/p>\n

It is not that the Saint has become unpractical, like the philosopher: the philosopher blinks because he has come out of the darkness of his study into the light of common things; the Saint blinks because he has come out of the light of his oratory into the darkness of the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like the way that Knox frames the refusal here, and even more as the chapter goes on. \u00a0Knox makes it clear that, when he talks about saints being staggered when drawn out of the light, he\u2019s not framing them as more\u00a0powerful<\/em> than the average person (a la Superman in his World of Cardboard speech<\/a>). \u00a0They\u2019re staggered because they feel very small in comparison to God, so when the world draws them out, they\u2019re thrown by the change in scale.<\/p>\n

They are used to looking up, and thinking of themselves as small, so, to have others look at them, and to be treated as large makes them feel like Alice after tasting the \u201cEat Me\u201d cake. \u00a0The way Knox describes it, it\u2019s almost a problem of moral proprioception. Knox is careful to say that the saints have the sense of scale right, but, since nearly\u00a0everyone<\/em> else has it wrong, it\u2019s confusing for them and for others when they try take proportionate actions.<\/p>\n

The challenge for us non-Anselms, I suppose, is making sure we take time to give ourselves the chance to\u00a0notice<\/em> if we\u2019re living life at the wrong scale. \u00a0If I pepper my life with push notifications and frequent commitments, I have trouble thinking about eternity. \u00a0If I spend too much time thinking about the character of people in the news, I lose sight of the way\u00a0I<\/em> am called to be good (which won\u2019t attract attention).<\/p>\n

If we live like Anselm, we should find ourselves occasionally feeling foreign or confused by the pace, priorities, and other scales of everyday life. \u00a0If we\u2019re at home in the world too often, it\u2019s time to set aside some time and practices for looking beyond it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sending out a book update email (with details on how the cover was chosen) this afternoon, so sign up if you\u2019d like to see it<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2015, I\u2019m reading and blogging through\u00a0Ronald Knox\u2019s\u00a0collection of sermons on Christian exemplars,\u00a0Captive Flames: On Selected Saints and Christian Heroes. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next portrait in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to peruse them all and\/or read along. Reading Ronald Knox\u2019s sermon on St Anselm, I was reminded of my own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":11331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[240],"class_list":["post-11329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-practice","tag-knox-bookclub"],"yoast_head":"\nAnselm Lived at the *Wrong* Scale [Saints Bookclub]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2015, I\u2019m reading and blogging through\u00a0Ronald Knox\u2019s\u00a0collection of sermons on Christian exemplars,\u00a0Captive Flames: On Selected Saints and Christian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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