CALLED to SAINTHOOD
by Patricia Ennis-Burke

‘You are called to be saints,’ Miss Violet Wilson, my primary school teacher, not only voiced this statement, but through her kindness, patience, and understanding modeled Christian living. I still recall the many stories she read to us from ‘The Lives of the saints.’ They fascinated us and, in our own little way, we tried to imitate them.

It's not easy trying to be a saint. Sometimes to do what a saint would do, one had to do what Mom said not to do. For example, Miss Wilson said that like Saint Theresa, we should do little things like helping the old, the sick, and those who needed our friendship. I figured Mrs. Teesh Hipditch could use my help. I could do the dishes, wash up her kitchen floor, and run errands for her. You see, she was sick in bed and her children were grown and had left home. Mom had said though, ‘You must not go tormenting Mrs. Teesh. She needs to rest.’

Well, my calling to help overpowered my will to obey, and I visited Mrs. Teesh and asked her if I could scrub her floor. I did, but found myself needing to use the bathroom badly. I asked her where she kept her pail. Because of her paralysis, it was difficult to understand Mrs. Teesh's speech, but she directed me to a room and I thought I had heard her say, ‘Gus's bear in there."

Well, in the room was this huge lump covered with mats and old coats. My heart raced madly. My flesh broke out in goosebumps. My body was paralyzed with fear. ‘What if Mr. Gus's bear woke up and grabbed me!‘ I hurriedly attended to my personal needs and ran from the room. I was so scared! I sobbed and sobbed to Mrs. Teesh that I had to go home because I was scared of Mr. Gus's bear. Well, she laughed and managed to explain as best she could. ‘No,’ she said, ‘not Gus's BEAR...Gus's BEER” while trying to put her hand to her mouth to indicate the kind you drank. I understood. I continued to work on becoming a saint.

‘Do you need anything at the Co-op store, Mrs. Teesh?’ I asked hoping she'd send me to the shop for something and perhaps give me five cents to get a few candy for myself.

‘Bread,’ she said... ‘Your mother... ask her.’

Now I would be in trouble! Mom had warned me not to bother Mrs. Teesh. What a dilemma! I couldn't leave the poor woman without bread! A saint would never do that! And Mr. Gus was out fishing. He couldn't come home and have no bread for his supper.

Well, I got the loaf of bread from Mom. Now the true test of sainthood presented itself. Mrs. Teesh asked, ‘How much?“ I hesitated. Then temptation overwhelmed me. ‘Twenty-five cents,’ I blurted out.

She indicated where I would get the money. I took it and headed straight for the Co-op Store where I bought a pack of rainbow Lifesavers and a box of Chicklets.

Somehow my treats didn't taste as sweet as I had anticipated. I couldn't torment my friends and siblings with them because Mom would find out and there would certainly be an inquisition. I felt so ashamed. What would poor Mrs. Teesh think of my Mother charging her twenty-five cents for a loaf of bread? And all the good things I had built up to help me become a saint were wiped out because I had fallen into temptation. Thank God! Mom never did find out until I told her the whole story many years later.

The road to sainthood is indeed pretty much uphill, but the call still rings loud and clear, so we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and plod on again.