USA Today's Great New Way ...

USA Today's Henry G. Brinton's Notso Manic Monday

Henry Brinton wrote a great article in today's "USA Today" on page 11A http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/07/faith-at-the-of.html and presented a thoughtful column about the "value of integrating religion and work in meaningful ways." Brinton was not preachy in his article; instead he offered that creating an inclusive workplace that taps into the resources of religious traditions could help to foster a better sense of community in the workplace. And he followed up with this crystal clear caveat that "such behavior doesn't mean proselytizing on the job." When I read the article I felt as though Mr. Brinton was speaking for and about http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ .

Although http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ is all about the Old Age Saints, in many ways it is less about Catholicism and religion than it is about history and the concept of trying to help others through sharing the lives of people in history who have stood for something. Folks who tried to do the right thing. It just so happened those folks in history have been declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church, or Holy See. So, naturally Catholics grasp the concept quite readily and revere the saints we have written about as well as their medals we paint so vividy. But, over the years, it seems we have also heard from a great number of people who like the concept of identifying with a saint, yet, are, for whatever reason, less entrenched in the teachings of strict religious principles. I think Mr. Brinton and SaintsforSinners.com share the same ethos, the idea that following "Golden Rule" principles can make us all better people. The hard part is doing it day after day and week after week - not just during an hour a week at Church but also on line at the slow moving toll booth, or while sifting through a voice mail maze at "Most Companys Today," or when encountering a person with a view point and personality entirely different than our own. To make it through those snapshots in time, we all can use a little help.

And that's where the idea of integrating religion and work (and life) seems beauteous! But that's not saying it's easy to do. A saintsforsinners.com case in point, for illustration: Long ago, a member of our saintsforsinners.com family suggested that I should try and get my hand painted saint medals and serenity stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It sounded good to me so I practiced due diligence and bought issues of the magazine, lugged them home ( if you carry a few copies of Cosmo around you'll soon develop a newfound respect for any postal worker who has to deliver it on their route every month. It's heavy! ) ane set about reading the articles and figuring out how saintsforsinners.com medals could fit into the pages of the magazine. Some of my friends in the media business offered great tips and soon I was ready to make the call to talk to a real live person at Cosmo. So, I rang her up and amazingly got through on my first try. I spoke to a lovely lady who was polite and cordial, listened to my ideas, and offered encouragement. I felt hand-painted saintsforsinners.com medals would soon be blessing the pages of Cosmo! So, I fine tuned my concept and suggested ways to offer free medal packages to readers as prizes, or in a give-a-way or some sort of contest. Saints Valentine and Agnes, our patrons of love were ready to be sent out of the factory and off to Cosmo. They felt "love" was perfect for Cosmo and I could not find a reason to dispute their notion.

To make this story short, it turned out that many at Cosmo embraced the medals and loved our "serenity for sharing" concept. Pretty soon I was directed to the Editorial Department to make my pitch. And that's where the whole house of cards came falling down for saintsforsinners.com's plan to unite in a project with Cosmopolitan. I was politely told, by a lady whose name was Gloria ( I think ), that Cosmo just did not "do religion." Because it would invariably offend someone so as a general policy rule, religion-type things are typically "passed" at Cosmo. This was where I quickly backpedaled, saying "the saints are not really about religion, they are about serenity for sharing." Gloria was not buying it and my cosmopolitan plan to unite saintsforsinners.com with the biggest magazine in the world fell apart. Butl like Chumbawamba I got up again and our hand-painted medal images were soon gracing the pages of OK! Magazine, Portland Monthly and a host of others. One door closes .... you know the rest.

I like the fact that today, July 30, 2007, Henry G. Brinton has written, in the world's largest newspaper, that "spirituality has begun to move into the workplace." He writes that many companies, like Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are becoming more faith-friendly. He says that people want to "bring their whole selves to work, - mind, body and spirit -instead of having to leave their soul" at the door of the lobby of their office. I think he's right and I fervently hope he's on to something. Because, if he is, you may just see our http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ medals on the pages of a huge Hearst publication some day. One can only hope. And pray. If not, maybe things will go better with Coke!