"Enjoying" All Saints Day

This past Sunday (Nov 1) was All Saints Day, one of the many days on the church calendar that I deeply enjoy. We joined the entire company of saints, living and dead, in lifting up our praise and thanksgiving to the Risen One. I know that "enjoy" might seem like a strange verb to use when it comes to remembering those who have died in the faith. But it is an enjoyment that is closely linked to inspiration, reverence, respect and awe (less of the "devil-may-care-let's-live-it-up" type of enjoyment. That's not my usual approach to life anyway!).

All Saints is so important to the life of the faithful. It's a Sunday that, if you are crying, most people can figure out why (not that you should be ashamed to cry on any given Sunday). No only do we recognize the great sense of personal grief and pain that is so important in personal lives. At the same time, it is a moment when we grieve together in church, as a church. The collective grief of losing 12 members in the last 12 months needs to be spoken. And somehow when we grieve together, it lessens the burden of the individual. What affects one affects us all. The church is ever-changing, and we are in this together.

All Saints Day is also important because it is a touchstone of inspiration. Many football teams pass by and touch an important symbol as they run out to the game field. Be it a gator, a light switch, an inspirational sign, a statue of a former player or coach. Some ritual to remind the team they are not the first to take the field, and maybe even not the greatest to grace the turf. So it is with All Saints. That ritual, that touchstone, is a recognition that we would not be here without the collective witness of martyrs, prophets, apostles, teachers, poets, artists, musicians, leaders, dishwashers on whose shoulders we stand.

Without acknowledging our pain and loss, All Saints would be empty triumphalism. Without being inspired to persevere and carry on the faith in our own way and own day, All Saints would be insufferably painful. God gives us both. The grace to endure the pain, and the grace to grow in faith. That's why when we sing "For All the Saints" I enjoy All Saints Day. I enjoy singing "Alleluia!," because somehow in God's mysterious and holy way, I again sing with the saints in glory who taught me what that word means, saints like my own mother Delna Ivie and my seminary Old Testament professor Roy Melugin.

Inspired,
Pastor David