Letters On The Page

  The Feast of All Saints   Revelation 7:9-17   1 John 3:1-3   Matthew 5:1-12 In the 1980 novel Godric , Frederick Buechner retold the life story of Godric of Finchale. Godric is a 12th century English holy man. Godric was recognized as a saint, a holy man, because he renounced his former life, lived as a hermit by the river, and sought to purify his ambition of pride with severe ascetic practices that included extended fasts and meditating in ice cold winter streams. His holiness was such that he was often visited.  People were drawn to his ascetic spiritual practices, his vivid sense of the presence of God, and his wise sayings.  I remember reading this book years ago. Buechner is a gifted novelist. He captures well the milieu of twelfth century England and Godric’s efforts at holiness.  What drew people to Godric, and to men and women like him, was their efforts at living a spiritual life that looked wild on the margin of society. We shou...