Dysmas

Tradition has named the good thief as Dysmas.   He's the saint of the worst of us, he's the saint of all of us.  He was, presumably, a pretty bad guy - condemned, guilty of a capital crime.  But, we're told, he made it to paradise the day he died.

We tend to think that his was an act of faith, asking to be "remembered".  But it is possible that he was acting out of charity? 

Dorothy Leigh Sayers' 1943 play, The Man Born to be King, contemplates just that.  That Dysmas saw Jesus as "looney" and was compassionate for his fate.

"Let im think he's Goddamighty," he plays along with an extremely respectful tone, trying to make Jesus feel better. "You're all right, mate, ain't you? Of course you are. This ere's just a bad dream. One o' these days you'll come out in a cloud of glory and astonish 'em all. . . .Sir, you'll remember me, won't you, when you come into your kingdom?"

Recognized as either extreme of faith or great love in providing comfort to a suffering man, he, Dysmas, was a better man than any of us.