As I reflect on this past year between All Saints Days I come away with a feeling of gratitude. As troubling as our politicians can be, as truth seems to be at a premium, as our environment continues to be violated, as more people are being displaced do to violence and ecological concerns, it would be easy to be thankless, to fall into a kind of stifling depression. But, as I look on the names of those who have died I can only be thankful, to be encouraged, to be ignited in my faith!
Among the names we will read out loud on November 5, All Saints Sunday, I see stories of grace, struggle, courage, heartache, triumph, pain, and deep faith. These stories are full of a faith that encouraged each one of these dear saints to share the love of God with their family and friends.
There is the woman who joined the Navy's WAVES during WWII; another woman who was the first person in her family to graduate from college and was in the very first graduation class from the UW Dental Hygiene school; a man who after serving in the military during WWII went on to become a Lutheran pastor serving this congregation; a woman who came to the Northwest with her best friend at the age of 23 to teach in our public schools; and so many more amazing stories.
What all these people have in common is that they all are children of God brought up in a grace filled reformation faith. A faith that taught them the importance of serving the other, of providing hospitality for the stranger, of feeding the hungry, of teaching the faith, of gathering weekly at the table of Jesus, of praying for healing, peace, and justice, of a God who loves deeply this good creation. This faith went with them on their physical and spiritual journeys.
It is because of these stories of the saints that I feel deep gratitude because they are the stories that get into our bones and sustain us in this struggle we call life. No matter the heartache, God loves us. No matter the disappointments, God loves us. No matter the success, God loves us. Nothing can separate us from this love of God.
So it is with deep gratitude that I enter this All Saints Day because God's story is our story. I pray that we will keep telling it so that the World will know the truth, and the truth will set us free.
