I appreciate the recognition of Veterans' Day today, but the church calendar also marks two individuals who contributed mightily to the progressive work of Christians over the last seventeen centuries.
The Episcopal Church recognizes St. Martin of Tours. Martin, in addition to being a bishop, was also trained in medicine and law. In Christian art and iconography he is frequently pictured holding three bezels representing the three academic disciplines.
He is primarily noted for an action in which he engaged before his ecclesiastical career. When he was a soldier, upon observing a beggar freezing in the winter temperatures, he cut his own cloak in half with his sword so that it might be shared with the unfortunate man. At the end of the day, in a dream, Christ came to Martin wearing half a cloak. This vision encouraged him to become a Christian. He died on this date, it is thought, in the year 397, after working to establish a sense of Christian justice in the still largely-pagan area of Tours.
Our brothers and sisters in The Lutheran Church recognize the great existential philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, today. Kierkegaard, who lived from 1813 to this date in 1855, was loath to present in his philosophy a concrete explanation as to the mystery of life, and acknowledged that embracing mystery often lead to fear. Because of the absurdity of existence, rather than in spite of it, we find a way to abide with God. [That's the really, really short form.]
