All Saints' Day

Today surrounding me has been this great cloud of witnesses.  My memories have been fresh and sweet.  I have heard my son's laughter over sock balls and tickle torture.  I have smelled my mother's apple pie.  I have felt the strong arms of my father holding me tight.  More memories surge.  Nana's voice as she shared with me the secret of dipping zwieback toast into our afternoon tea to sweeten the tea and soften the bread.  I feel the elevator rising as we travel to the ninth floor of my other Nana's apartment in Hartford, CT.  The saints of my family who are now singing songs in the throne room of God.  Still more memories come.  Conversations I have had with church members before they too went home to their Lord.  I see men and women who taught me about faith and about life through their own personal stories.  I remember an 82 year old woman starting a soup kitchen in her church.  I remember a 90 year old woman whose home was a haven for all the children of her community and the stories of those men and women who put their feet under her table, including some of the ministers who served her church.  Always room for one more.  Then there was the 84 year old man who took stands in the coastal plains of North Carolina to preserve valued land for the natural balance of wetlands to dry lands. These few mentioned only scratch the surface of the saints of God whose journey I shared if only briefly.  Then I hear a bright clear voice singing hymns of praise in heaven and remember the woman whose voice was an echo of her spirit and love.  Just recently in our conference we lost a District Superintendent whose life was a witness to how God loves you and me. 

Each day more are added to the number.  As I was reading commentaries on the Revelation passage for All Saints' Day I remembered that their journey was not an easy passage.  Each of these saints was also a sinner.  Each of these saints spent time being refined by God's Holy Spirit fire.  Each of these saints spent time in the world testifying through their own life's story of the transforming power of God's love.  Simple people who made choices that bettered the world.  Simple people who took risks because situations called for them to take risks.

While all these memories stir in my heart, in my head I see the visions of the saints of tomorrow.  You see, where I am serving and where I have served, I have seen these saints.  I am continually humbled by these young people who know how to share when they see a need before them.  I watched as a youth group included a young man with autism into their group with compassion and gentleness.  I have seen young men and women fasting for the hungry of the world and in the midst of that fast clean the bottom of a summer camp's pool.  I have heard high school seniors share their testimony with the congregations that has raised them in their faith.  Recently, I watched a young woman share leadership roles in worship with others rather than keep them all to herself.  I learned of a young man who took an unpopular stand because it was the right thing to do.  I have been asked over and over again by these saints of tomorrow, "Can we serve?"  Saints every one of them.  All willing to surrender to the Refiner's fire.

So today my memories remind me that saints abound here on earth willing to take risks for the Gospel message of love, of peace, of reconciliation, of community because they allow joy, allow love, allow God to guide their every step.  My prayer is that one day I too will be counted as a saint of God.

Allow joy, allow love, allow God,
One of Many