For all the saints

Hello to all you saints out there. It's all saints day in our tradition and I've been thinking about this all week. My yoga teacher even mentioned it in class this morning (after first asking me to please explain the intent of the festival -- nice to get some positive PR for Christians in there :)

Pastor Mike explained last year that All Saints on Nov. 1 traditionally honors those "bona fide" saints: matthew, mark, luke, what-have-you. All Saints was started sometime in the third century to honor martyrs.

Nov. 2 is All Souls, which honors anyone who has gone before. I always thought All Souls sounded funny, especially when I noted that an Episcopal church in Berkeley was named "All Souls Parish." Duh!

In worship tonight (Taize, 7 pm) and on Sunday, we'll light a candle for those who have gone before. It's good to think of this. We need ritual to remember the dead and celebrate their impacts in our lives. After all, most people at a funeral aren't crying over the one who died, they're grieving all the other losses they haven't finished grieving yet. Some of them we never finish grieving and that's okay. We just live with "grief moments," as Donna Stevens says, an Anchorage nurse and expert in grief. We should have her speak at Central sometime.

So I'll share that I'm thinking about my Grandma today, who died in March. Janina Hnantow Smith. I haven't been back to Iowa since she died, so sometimes I forget she's gone. I think this is normal. And I know the grief moments will keep coming, especially when I return after Christmas this year.

So maybe you have special saint to think of today. Maybe you can light a candle to remember him or her. I'm going to go light one right now.