Today is the feast of the conversion of Paul of Tarsus. It is the only feast of the Church that celebrates a conversion and one that has many levels to it. I was struck by the blindness that Paul endures immediately after his encounter with the Christ on the road to Damascus. The blindness seems to be a narration on Paul's life so far. Blinded by prejudice, blinded by fear, blinded by self importance, he is now totally reliant on others to help him complete his journey to Damascus. once in Damascus he is at the mercy of the Christian community and it is they who complete the journey to baptism with him.
Christian faith is far from personal, it has a vivid and real dimension of comunity to it. The Church helps complete our faith and gives it a context in which we live faith. A wise Carmelite, John Welch once said, 'if you are a hermit whose feet are you washing?' If we seek an unrooted solitude and isolation we miss out on so many opportunities for faith to be celebrated and awakened.
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