"I believe in...the communion of saints"

This sentence in the Nicene Creed has always fascinated me. Who are the saints, and what communion is this? Much has been written about this subject that is infinitely better than any exegesis I could give, so I'll not bother pontificating about the main points of it. Go read a commentary about it, or something.

But it does fascinate me. Lately I have really enjoyed reading a book that my college library has, called Letters from Saints to Sinners. Not all the letters are from canonized saints, nor are the recipients necessarily sinners, but it is a collection of letters from great Christians of the past (mostly saints) to their friends and families. And somehow, reading the correspondence of the saints gives me a hope to carry on. They were human, like me. They had people to talk to and business to settle. But God so infused every part of their lives as to transform it. Most of them, in their letters, simply never stop talking about God. Every good thing is seen as a blessing direct from God, and every bad thing is seen as an opportunity to be faithful to God during trials.

And somehow, I am in community with these wonderful people. How? I'm not entirely sure. Through grace, I know, but how that works out exactly I can't imagine. But I know that I want very much to be like them.

Ok, first blog in awhile! Heh. Yeah. Gosh, it feels like so much has happened in the past few weeks...

Number one: I have gotten hooked on the writings of fantasy author Terry Brooks. My roommate Liz got me started. I read his Word and the Void trrilogy first, and it was phenomenal. You know how you can read a story, and know that your way of thinking will never be quite the same afterward? That's how it is with these. My favorite of his books, so far, has been the Elfstones of Shannara. I won't give away the ending, but it resonated so powerfully with circumstances in my life that I spent much of the evening crying over the book! A beautiful story....

Number two: I went to my former roommate's wedding! I was there when she met the guy who is now her husband, and most of my long-time college friends were there. I was having so much fun I actually got out on the dance floor!! Shocking, I know. But I was having too much fun to be my usual wallflower self.