Without a doubt, All Saints’ Day is one of the most important days for me in the church. It’s a day to remember those who have gone before us and showed us what means to live out a life of faith. From notable people known by many – Dorothy Day, Flannery O’Connor, Dietrich Bonheoffer – to those who were simply saints to me – Louis, Sybil, Ruby Nell – I think we all have people to whom we owe a deep debt. These are the people who by their public acts or private kindness showed us a live with integrity and grace in God’s world.
Frederick Buechner calls saints “handkerchiefs” that God drops in God’s continual wooing of the world. Graham Greene, in his novel The Power and The Glory, tells of a feeble priest in Mexico who goes terribly wrong with his life, only to realize at the end that the “only things that matters in all of life…is to be a saint.”
This Sunday, we will gather for worship. We will read the names of those in our church who have died in the past year. We will give thanks. We will gather around the communion table to receive the nourishment we need from God to continue on our own paths toward sainthood.
Mark Ramsey
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