Rose Weaver told a rather interesting story about St. Jude over on her blog, and I felt inspired to write a poem of thanks to Jude as a result:
Mighty Saint Jude, protector of the lost,
guardian of the needy and friendless!
You open doors just when we need them most —
the blessings of your bounties are endless.
Perfect is your help when the time is right,
so perfect, indeed, that all stand in shock,
for without fanfare or showers of light,
you open paths even through solid rock.
Therefore we may call you a quantum saint,
doling out miracles in quiet way:
Though hope be lost, you resolve our complaint,
reshaping the world like potters shape clay.
Saint Jude, I give thanks for your gracious aid
that solved my troubles when I was afraid.
Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat Pray Love fame, did that TED Talk I love so much about becoming aware of the concept of the genius, and how knowing or at least believing that the creative spirit was outside herself, actually helped her write better. I think that praying to the saints — Celtic or otherwise — is kind of like that. When we put the source of the solution to a problem outside ourselves, while at the same time connecting the solution to the divine, we give the Universe space to imagine a genuinely creative solution to the problem.
The beauty of it is, the solution winds up looking brilliantly ordinary. And holy at the same time. Congratulations, Rose.
Andrew, your poem of Thanks to Saint Jude is absolutely lovely, and I am honored my experience inspired you to write it. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I would also like to thank you for sharing the link to Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I feel she makes many excellent points. In fact, I’ve bookmarked it since I am also attempting to write my first novel, the inspiration of which came from dreams. The rest is kind of writing itself… that genius out there, somewhere, is assisting and now I know how to allow him to help much better. Thank you again, Andrew.
I’m glad you liked it. It was fun to write, and it’s clear that post-action gratitude is important — one of the lessons from Jason Miller’s strategic sorcery course.
Thanks for responding!
Yes, the publishing of thanks is very important and I have already done so in several places, but will do so again using the poem you’ve written. Do you mind if I copy it from your comment to my blog within a post there as one part of additional gratitude?
Of course you can… would you mind including a link to my blog in return?
Oh, most certainly! I won’t be writing anything until later today or Wednesday, but when I do, I always include links. And besides, what you have written and why initially left me so speechless; you are very kind and generous. I consider the writing of your poem part of this very interesting phenomenon which continues. I don’t think St. Jude is finished with His work on my behalf. 🙂