These were goals to achieve, standards impossible to meet, reminders to keep my behaviour appropriate, and chains that constricted my life.

Stories of the saints partially influenced this.

One story that I read about St. Rose of Lima told of her love of every living thing.

She promised the insects that she would never kill them. In return, no bug bit, stung, or bothered her.

So many times, I tried to do this and was heartbroken when mosquitoes continued to leave nasty welts on my skin. No matter how hard I tried, my effort to be perfect failed.

The Bible too calls us to a high standard. Matthew 5:48 states that Jesus said, "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

That is quite the commandment to live up to.

Certainly the Bible and stories of saints are important to listen to and deeply respect.

We hold the Bible as the inspired word of God. Yet, we need to read it in the context of Jesus' culture and era.

The saints are amazing men and women who served the Lord in beautiful ways.

That might not mean that every word written about them is helpful, however, especially to a young child who takes everything literally.

Even these holy people made mistakes in their lives, a fact which is sometimes forgotten in tales about them.

Likewise, authors may elaborate on a tale or edit elements to make the story sound more interesting.

Thus, sometimes Scripture and saint stories are taken out of context or taken to an unhealthy extreme.

If I could sum up my life purpose, it would probably be this sentence: "Just be good."

That is how I lived for years, yearning to be better but always falling short. Continue reading

Source

• AnnaRose Meeds in Catholic Stand

AnnaRose Meeds is a Catholic writer and speaker who wants to spread hope, truth, and awareness.

Demure Miss Tangmo (Watermelon) tries to be as good and loving as any mum on the planet, but she's only eight, and she worries a lot about her five-year-old brother and the twins. Not that there's really much to worry about there: he's happy and the twins are jolly three-year-old eating machines. Her mum, back in rehab? That's a worry, but it's nothing new.

Like the time the police arrested mum again after she'd been sick and violent on meth and was coming down, on domicum mixed with methadone. Minutes before the police arrived, Tangmo (she prefers to becalled Daeng) had grabbed her younger brother and the twins and ran to the safety of a rickety bamboo-shack karaoke bar under the expressway. She woke up the old man who's always asleep at the door to let them in to hide from mum. It wasn't the first time. She knew the mamasan lady who arrives in the late afternoon would buy them noodles, if she was in a good mood. But they couldn't stay there overnight; the police would think bad things and put the mamasan in jail.

Whenever Daeng runs away, those two scavenger slum dogs who protect her come running — she fed them once and they are loyal for life. They curl up together for warmth all night — all four kids sleep soundly and safe with those two scavenger dogs.

What about hunger? In the morning, there was this nice crippled lady a few shacks away by the railway tracks who hobbles to the temple each morning, seeking left-overs and whatever the monks give to her and other indigents. She always saved a bit of rice for Daeng, brother, the twins — and the two dogs. In the afternoon, it's hit and miss. Continue reading

Sources

• Bangkok Post
• Image: AsiaNews