St. Molly Ivins

I confess, though I do not repent, that my study of, interest in, and presentation of saints is somewhat academic.  Book knowledge holds great power for me.  I’m affected by it.  There is also the fact that I could not have known Joe Strummer or Dorothy Day, much less Teresa, Francis, Sergius, or Bacchus.  So I gather and present information and I hope that it fills your imagination as it does mine, an imagination of who we might be and what the world might be if we live into lives like these.  But this week is different.

This week, we canonize Molly Ivins into our local sainthood.  Of course, I am familiar with her, though mostly through some entertaining quips.  I occasionally read her columns over the years and always enjoyed seeing her on television.  However, we are fortunate to have in our congregation Mr. David Marquis.  David is a longtime activist, writer, and performer in Dallas and was a personal friend of Molly before she passed in 2007.  Her life and her death were anything but academic to David.

When I talk to David about Molly Ivins and the other progressive movers and shakers with whom he has had the good fortune to associate over the years, I am filled with a sense of gratitude for the work they have done.  There are times as a progressive in Texas when things are frustrating, tiring, and just plain irksome.  Folks like Molly gave us a picture of how to go on fighting: with fire in our eyes and laughter in our throats.  She spoke truth to power and got everyone to laugh along.  Her friend E.J. Dionne wrote at the time of her passing: “Molly Ivins is the only person I can think of who, upon entering heaven, would start making jokes at God’s expense and get God to laugh with her.”  That’s our kind of people.

If you are a progressive in Texas, watching the early voting, anxiously awaiting justice in the land we call home, you should get down on your knees tonight, light a candle, and say a prayer to St. Molly.  God knows she’ll be doing the same for us.

Please join us this Sunday, 11am at Kidd Springs Rec Center, as we share a laugh and shed a tear for the great prophet, St. Molly Ivins, and welcome her into our communion of saints.

Grace & Peace,
Scott