Saints among us

Happy Halloween Day!

Halloween.Sly does it. Tiptoe cats paws. Slide and creep.But why? What for? How? Who? When! Where did it all begin?“You don’t know, do you?” asks Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud climbing out of the pile of leaves under the Halloween Tree. “You don’t really know!”
—Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Well just in case you’ve forgotten the Why? The What for? The How? Who? When? and where it all began, here’s a bit o’ Halloween background, thanks to www.wikipedia.org. Halloween has become the sixth most profitable holiday (after Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Easter, and Father's Day in popularity. The market for decorations, costumes and treats grows more profitably with each passing year…What happened to making up costumes from whatever you had around the house? But I digress…

Halloween originated from the Pagan festival Samhain, celebrated among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to us in the late 19th century. Halloween is now celebrated in several parts of the western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United Stated, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia and New Zealand.

Historically, dressing in costume on All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) was a ritual to scare away the evil spirits, cleansing one’s soul and making way for the celebration of All Saints Day, November 1-a day to remember the saints who have gone before us. Saints? We don’t celebrate the saints…we’re Protestant. Isn’t that the practice of the Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians? Well, there are two common understandings of saints. One includes saints as being all people who belong to God and who believe in Jesus Christ; like those in the early churches that the Apostle Paul established. And the saints who are also referred to as the martyrs of the early Church who were willing to die for their faith.

I love Barbara Brown Taylor’s take on All Saint’s Day and I return to it every time I need a refresher course on saints. She claims it as a family reunion for those in the church—a day for pulling out the old family photograph albums and remembering from whence we have come. A day to remember people like St. Francis, the Patron Saint of Animals or St. Christopher, the patron Saint of travelers or St. Joan of Arc, who received the voice of God in her head and went into battle as a faithful servant of God. But more times than not when we begin to delve more deeply into the lives of those who have been deemed as saints, we discover that they were everyday people, not necessarily distinguished for their goodness, but mostly because of their extravagant love of God which seemed to shine brighter than anything else about them.

Saints do exist among us today and we may not see them immortalized in stained glass windows. We mostly see them living in our hearts and memories. They may be those who have gone before us who responded to the call to do great things for God. Who are the people you have known who fit this description? Tomorrow and this Sunday would be a good time to offer a prayer of gratitude for the ways they have touched your life…
And then there are everyday kinds of folks who have also gone before us; who lived among us for a while—that great cloud of witnesses who have blazed a trail of faith for us to follow. Our memory of them serves to cheer us on to faithfulness. Name these saints for you…and offer a prayer for courage to follow…
But then there are still other saints among us quite ordinary and regular; those who are seeking to be faithful and holy in the here and now; walking beside us in every day experiences and challenges as examples of faithful living. Name these saints for you…and offer a prayer for the ability to recognize the saints among us; to be able to see the light that shines through their goodness…

And while we may never be comfortable with thinking of ourselves as saints, but by Paul’s usage, we are just that--not because we’re perfect, but because we’re called by God to live a life of faith; and in our goodness the Light of Christ shines through. So, look in the mirror today or any day; catch a glimpse of a saint…and be grateful; take courage. But don’t say you haven’t been warned. Walk gently into this life of a saint, but as you do, go forth remembering: People just might expect a miracle!
Blessings, Joanne

PS. This Sunday during Communion at both times of worship, we will remember the saints in our lives and in the life of Covenant; those who have gone before us and those who live among us, right here, right now…Let us gather to remember…