Every Day is the Day of Something
[ by Charles Cameron — days, months, years, Saints, Josaphat, Buddha, problems, issues, solutions — I think that about captures it all ]
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Josaphat, the Bodhisattva Saint
Today is the International Day against Nuclear Tests — and since I don’t much like tearing open the fabric of the world I’m living in to witness and geiger-count the radiance it usually hides, I favor the idea. But the Day was already a Festival as far as I’m concerned: I woke up.
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Look, there are International and National Days, Weeks, Months and Years — this month, for instance, in addition to Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month was also National Catfish Month. It was Don’t be a Bully Month and National Dirty Harry Month, quite a pair! It was also Never Leave a Child Unattended in a Car Purple Ribbon Month, National Water Quality Month – which needs to be Internationalized – and Win with Civility Month. And there are many more…
See — we have enough issues to go around twenty-four slash seven slash three-sixty-five plus one on leap years…
That remarkable fellow Anthony Judge is largely responsible for the Union of international Association’s Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, which includes:
a World Problems database with 56,000+ entries and 276,000+ links
a Global Strategies and Solutions database with 32,000+ entries and 284,000 links
a Human Values database with 3,200+ entries and 119,000+ links
a Human Development database with 4,800+ entries and 19,000+ links, and
a Patterns and Metaphors database with 1,200+ entries and 4,500+ links.
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So that’s how many problems we have, and how many solutions, and naturally we can offer prayers about the problems, and perhaps the prayers will be answered by the solutions, or with new ideas…
So it’s also not surprising that there are a vast number of saints who can intercede for us…
And since my birthday happens to fall on November 27, I have a special affection for St Josaphat, whose Feast Day that is.
He’s the fellow preaching in the panel at the top of this post, from a 12th Century Greek manuscript…
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Josaphat’s story is recounted in Wikipedia:
According to the legend, King Abenner or Avenier in India persecuted the Christian Church in his realm, founded by the Apostle Thomas. When astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, Abenner had the young prince Josaphat isolated from external contact. Despite the imprisonment, Josaphat met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. Josaphat kept his faith even in the face of his father’s anger and persuasion. Eventually Abenner converted, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam.
A fine tale it is, and curiously reminiscent of that of the young bodhisattva Siddhartha, who was to become known as the Buddha:
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