What is Quixotic Sainthood?
Don Quixote and the Windmills by Dore
This website is the out-growth of a sermon I gave on July 23, 2011 at Warren Baptist Church. Here's a link to the page where the sermon is archived.
In that talk I spoke of quixotic sainthood--the idea being that the Christian experience is very much like the experience of Don Quixote in the novel of the same name. To illustrate, I'll take the best-known episode from the work. Even if you've never read it, you may have heard the phrase "tilting at windmills" or seen images depicting Don Quixote, a skinny, armored old Spaniard, charging on his old, skinny horse to fight a windmill as in the Dore illustration above. The reason he's doing this is because he's read a lot of fables about knighthood-- which is what he's doing in the Daumier painting below. As a result, he's decided to live the life of a knight, even though knighthood was already passe even in his lifetime-- the 1500s-- and the kind of knighthood he always read about never existed anyway.
As to why he wanted to fight a windmill, he believed the windmills to be giants. Why did he believe that? Because his books spoke of enchanters who would perform magic that would make things appear differently from what they really were. So Quixote supposed this was the case with these windmills.
This is why everyone thought Don Quixote was crazy.
In the context of the novel he was crazy, and yet on another level the courage of his convictions was admired by many within the novel and outside it. Cyraneau DeBergerac, in the play of the same name, is asked if he has ever read Don Quixote, to which he replies, "I've lived it."
I aspire to live it too. But instead of basing my life on fables, I choose the Bible, which is just as foolish to a lot of people as basing it on fantastic tales of knighthood is. I won't fight windmills, but in the biblical worldview, there are dark unseen foes. There is a dark enchanter and a dark enchantment that has fallen upon this earth. Things are not always as they seem. And they certainly aren't as they should be. I don't have an old rusty suit of armor, but I have the armor of God, as outlined in Ephesians 6.
That's the quixotic part. As to the sainthood part, anyone who is in Christ is a saint. It only means one who is set apart to God-- one who derives one's significance from God's significance. As I mentioned in that sermon, holiness or sainthood is something different from being good. I didn't have time to go into it during the talk, but I hope to wrestle with it here.
I hope to wrestle with a lot of things here and will be the first to admit that writing is how I come to learn. It's not as though I always have the answers before I dive in.
For instance, does this way of framing the life of a Christian speak to a woman? I don't know. After all, the dictionary definition of "quixotic" is "exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical". And Menken said, "Women are the supreme realists." Are women ever quixotic? I do know the Bible would have women avoid giving way to fear. And I'm sure there are many women who choose certain life paths because of Biblical convictions, and the world would consider them foolish. Could one say Esther was quixotic? Well, I'm open to feedback on this and other matters.
So what I have in mind with quixotic sainthood is, in part, the role imagination and creativity plays in our spiritual journey. And then there's having the courage of our convictions. And seeing life as an adventure because we're part of something grand and glorious. But it can entail appearing foolish.
By the way, my quixotic hope with this website is that this material will eventually be worked into a book that gets published and becomes a best-seller. I hear that's how a lot of books get started these days.
Honey….
ReplyDeleteYou said the dictionary definition of "quixotic" is "exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical" and questioned whether women are ever quixotic. I would agree with Menken that women are true realists. We are grounded in reality because so much of our day-to-day lives are filled with practical tasks (maintaining the home, preparing meals, caring for children, working)….and we are very security oriented. We want to know that we are cared for and protected…that our home is stable and safe.
But, I believe that while the default mode of most women is realism—practical, brass-tacks realism—women want to be swept up in an adventure. We want to be part of something greater than ourselves…something that makes a difference. So, yes, women have whole parts of our beings that are highly quixotic.
What will make a down-to-earth woman do things that are “exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic and impractical”? I believe that 3 very powerful things will…faith, hope, and love. A woman will do things, perhaps like Esther, that seem foolish to the world when they feel led to take steps of faith...when they sense God’s leading to do something that makes no practical sense but from which their souls cannot escape. They will do such things as leave jobs, go to the mission field, and turn their whole lives in another direction. A woman will also be idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical when hope is involved…when there is a possibility for something truly incredible to happen. A good example of this is a woman’s God-given yearning for children. There is always something hopeful about the birth of a child even when circumstances or relationships are not favorable. Hope is a powerful motivator for women. And, love…what can be said about what a woman would do for love? When a woman is truly loved, she will bloom like a flower. When a woman is truly loved—by God and by a man—and she knows it, she will be free to live out the romance that God created her for.
So, realism, yes….and quixotic sainthood, too. Women are a paradox, but you knew that, didn’t you? ;))
Lisa Thurston <><
Thanks for you input, my love. As I wrote the post, I thought of your decision to leave a career of teaching, which you liked, to get a degree in Bible at Moody.
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to have you along in the adventure--
Drew