St. Anselm and Theologians

I was taking finals last week...but I'm finally done so I can write about saints. It's a nice break from studying Theology.

Of course there are people who think about Theology all the time, and some of them do become Saints. I don't know about everyone else, but I always found it hard to relate to the lives of theologians.  Take St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Albert the Great.  They were crazy smart, created a lot of theories and wrote a lot of books.  Yes, they gave us ideas that still influence the church today, but I could never think like that, and I know a lot of people who could never think like that.  So how do we relate to these great masterminds?

St. Anselm, for any theology majors, is famous for his ontological proof for the existence of God, and for a while, that is the only thing I knew him for.  I will not bother you with the explanation of this, but I was never a huge fan of his theory, so I never really was a huge fan of him. 

Then I found out about his life and discovered that maybe St. Anselm is more awesome than I thought.  His story:  Living in 9th Century Italy, Anselm was happy as a monk.  He liked engaging in studies, and writing books.  He was patient and gentle, and everybody liked him, which turned out to be the problem.  Against his will he was elected prior of his French abbey through a unanimous vote.  He kept getting thrown responsibilities even though he preferred the contemplative life.  After the Bishop of Canterbury died, the people of England screamed for Anselm to take the position.  Anselm tried to avoid England at all cost because of it.  In 1093, Anselm had to be physically dragged to the bed of the King of England, and the staff of the Archbishop was forced into his hand.  The position didn't give him any comfort, as the new King of England kept fighting Anselm and the Church, so much so that Anselm had to seek asylum with the Pope in Rome.  By the time he was allowed back, he died, never really getting that contemplative life he desired in the first place. 

Anselm had some troubles in his life.  He had struggles and was forced to do a lot of things he didn't want to do.  Everyone has those things that they don't want to do in life, but Anselm teaches us that the true meaning behind that is God, and to get through things, we can lift them up to God. 

Not just a theologian smarter than everyone else, Anselm can teach us a lot.  The theologians lived what they preached, and that is why they are saints.  Something to think about next time you come across St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albert the Great, St. Anselm, or any other great Theologian.