Of Saints and Martyrs - Kim Davis

noun

1. a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.

"saints, martyrs, and witnesses to the faith"

verb

1. kill (someone) because of their beliefs.

"she was martyred for her faith"

An alternate usage is one of a person who displays or exaggerates their discomfort or distress in order to obtain sympathy or admiration, as in "she wanted to play the martyr".

The illustration above is of St. Valentine in prison before being beaten, stoned and beheaded for marrying people. I thought it was an appropriate choice for this post.

There seems to be some confusion about the meaning of the words Martyrs and Saints these days. Kim Davis, the new hero of the Religious Right; who are always right; is currently being hailed as a martyr, in spite of her not having given her life for her beliefs. No one has said Saint as of yet; but give them time.

Ms. Davis was able to endure just 5 days of confinement before her faith caved in. Kind of like those first 3 “Holy Unions” she was in before she got married for the 4^th time in a "lifetime commitment" to her current husband.

Ms. Davis has not been asked to die for her beliefs and currently still receives her $80,000 per year salary of tax payer money to perform no work. Oh the horror!

And, as far as Sainthood goes, Ms. Davis has quite a long walk to make before she even comes close to the mark. Here’s a link to the 8 well known Saints and the ways in which they were executed for their beliefs;

http://www.ranker.com/list/the-8-most-brutal-deaths-of-saints/ivana-wynn?format=SLIDESHOW&page=7

The Removers" by Andrew Meredith (2014)

They tell me not to pick a book by its cover; but I keep on doing it anyway. Maybe I've just been lucky, but it seems to work out well for me. The first time it happened was when I read “Moby Dick”; the giant tail on the cover, flailing in the sea and swamping the small whaleboat, promised all kinds of excitement within. And the book delivered beautifully, so I've been doing it that way ever since. I was 11 at the time.

Now this is no Moby Dick; let’s get that straight right from the start. But it has a compelling quality to it which reveals itself as you find yourself turning the next page eagerly. It is the story of the a young man who was cheated out of a portion of his adolescence by his parent’s failed marriage; and it is also the story of how he allowed that loss to rob him of the ability to live and love for many years afterward.

After his father is fired from the university where he teaches; for “inappropriate” behavior with a female student; his marriage to the author’s mother crumbles. No one ever divulges the details of just what his father did; was it a physical relationship, or just becoming too familiar with someone? Or was it what today would be deemed as an “emotional” affair? Silence reigns supreme in his home. No questions are asked and no explanations offered.

Silence never really accomplished much in the way of resolving things; and so it goes with Andrew’s life. He is living among the ashes of what was once a secure home; his mother and father along with his sister were an average family until this one event rocked their world, crumbling its foundation. You have to wonder; as the author does; how solid that foundation was to begin with, and why neither parent seemed capable of even attempting to deal with the problem?

As his father finally settles into a job as a “remover”; someone who removes the body and takes it to the funeral home for final preparations; his son follows suit. As he learns the craft of cremation he draws analogies between his life and the work he performs. He finds that he has shut himself off from all emotions, building a wall which will never reach its full height. No wall could ever be high enough to keep his emotions from spilling out; nor could it ever be high enough to let other emotions in.

After trial and error; coupled with some heartbreak and a trip to the west coast; he finds himself back in the Philadelphia area where he was raised, living with his mother at the age of 27. As he continues to grow he learns about his ability to get beyond that wall and let things flow in and out. He finds answers to the unasked questions which have troubled him; and his father; for so many years.

This is a quickly read and yet deeply written book. The author had to dig deep to write this, and as such it is well worth the read. His conclusion is somewhat like my own; that in the final analysis we all carry our own water. And, as such, we need to be careful not to waste any by either splashing it on others; or using too much of it in an attempt to rinse ourselves of the past. But either way, that bucket of water is ours alone to carry.

"Little Red Wagon" with Frances O'Conner and Anna Gunn (2010)

When Hurricane Charley hit in Tampa, Florida back in 2004, 7 year old Zach Bonner, played by Chandler Canterbury, didn't wait for the usual school fund raiser to pitch in. Instead he took his little red wagon and set out to elicit support for the victims of the hurricane. That effort morphed into the Little Red Wagon Foundation which has provided relief for the estimated 1.3 million homeless children in America. He even received the Presidential Service Award in 2006 for his efforts.

His motivation was simple, “"These kids don't have a home, they don't have a safe place to sleep at night. They're out on the streets not because they want to be, but because it's out of their control.”

The story also delves into the life of this extraordinary young boy and what may have motivated him in the first place. Coming from a broken home has not been easy for him and he stands up by standing out.

As his organization expanded into the national arena, he found himself doing battle with the local politicians, and even other charities as they all try to take control of what he has started and put their own spin on things. His journey was like Homer’s Odyssey, with triumphs and near pit falls aplenty as he navigates the tricky world of politics and the media in his quest to help others.

By 2007, Bonner began his "My House to the White House" project, with the goal being to raise awareness about the problem of homeless children. That year he walked 280 miles from Tampa to Tallahassee, Florida. The following year he covered the 250 miles from Tallahassee to Atlanta, Georgia. And finally, he walked 668 miles from Georgia to Washington D.C.

When that march was done he didn't stop. From March 23 to September 14, 2010 he walked an incredible 2,448 miles from Tampa to Los Angeles. This film chronicles the story of one little boy, from a broken home, who set out to heal a nation, and the effect that his actions had upon his own family.

The movie was filmed in 2010, but not released until 2012. Still, I wonder how I missed his one. Outstanding performances by all make this a wonderfully uplifting film to watch. And the best part is that it’s really true.

"Agatha" with Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman (1978)

The only excuse I can possibly have for having not seen this film before is that I was at sea from 1976 until 1984; consequently, I missed quite a few movies, and this is one of those. The story is set in 1926, the year in which Ms. Christie actually did disappear for a period of 11 days; and her whereabouts never explained. She was married at the time to a Colonel Christie, who was having an affair with his secretary, one Ms. Neele. Two years after the fictitious events in this film, the two divorced, and he married Ms. Neele.

Based solely upon that bit of gossip from the 1920’s, Kathleen Tynan penned this story almost 50 years later, creating a real life Agatha Christie mystery in the process. Assisted in the screenplay by Arthur Hopcraft, the film is tightly woven. The inter play between Ms. Redgrave, as Ms. Christie, and Dustin Hoffman as the sleuthing American journalist Wally Stanton, who uncovers the truth behind her disappearance, is almost palpable in the affection between the two. Although they never get together, the viewer is left wishing they had.

The most important thing to remember when watching this film is that it is fiction, based, though it is, upon a true event. The disappearance of Ms. Christie has never fully been resolved, and the story presented here could actually have been the truth. One never knows. Director Michael Apted does a great job in keeping this film on track, as well as capturing the mixture of fear; and affection; between the two main characters, as Mr. Stanton first attempts to solve the mystery for personal gain, only to abandon those efforts to shield a woman he has come to deeply admire. This film was a very pleasant surprise.