George MacDonald. Dorothy Sayers. Oswald Chambers. A.W. Tozer. St. Francis. Mrs. Lettie B. Cowman. Brother Lawrence. Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Agnes Sanford. Nope, these aren't the Brawl Saints or the Saints of Slaughter, they're my own personal saints. I've gone round and round with them and a few more, and their lessons have sunk in deeper than a good Ben-Gay rub.
Why roller derby? When I was young, the local independent TV station ran roller derby matches on Saturday nights, along with wrestling bouts and Black Belt Theater. A full evening of cheesy, over-the-top spectacle. The derby girls were my favorites: bold, gutsy, unstoppable women. In this last decade, grassroots derby teams have formed, reviving the sport, to my delight. As I went looking for an image to describe my struggles with faith and obedience, the derby offered lots more sparks than the usual tepid "walk with the Lord."
What about the raunchy track-names, the rowdy players and those costumes?
Yep, it's earthy, it's theatrical and a little bit ridiculous. But those girls play hard and pay in sweat, strains, bruises and worse. Their hearts are in the game. It's fierce fun.
And this is spiritual, how? It's not, but neither is wrestling; yet how often have we heard of someone "wrestling in prayer" or "wrestling with doubt," or with God? Personally, I'd rather feel the boards under my wheels, or the cement, and the breeze on my skin while I struggle. Feels like I'm getting somewhere, even if I'm only circling. And there's enough truth in the image of a pack of teammates who surge onward and battle opposition, that I'm going to ignore the less-than-apt elements of roller derby and roll with it.
Like the fact that most of these Saints are male. Well, yeah.
Hey, you take the team you're given.
So who's on the Team? Mostly souls I've only met in books, but hope to meet live in heaven. "Teammates" is a bit of a misnomer; they're more like coaches, teachers, or at least, senior members of the team, while I'm the noob. "Saints" may also seem incorrect to my gentle readers of a highly liturgical persuasion; I mean the term in a broader, "priesthood of all believers" sense. My Saints will roll out one by one in future posts. They will chasten and cheer us, call us on our fouls, and ground us in truth.
Strap on your skates and join me in the jam. We're on the move, and even though we're not going anywhere, we're getting better at it. Some day we'll clamber off the track for good, tougher and wiser, grateful and ready for our next adventure.
