Remembering our saints and Saints

I am grateful to have had a therapist to be my guide through some difficult times of life, as well as through discernment in early adulthood. One piece of wisdom my therapist shared with me early on was the blessing and curse of longevity. As we age more and more of our loved ones will die along the way. That realist perspective echos the refrain of Ecclesiastes, "all is vanity." It doesn't make losing a loved one easier, but it does provide some orientation for the journey. In addition, it has helped me to value this life as a precious gift. 

I also value memories of those who have crossed over to join the "great cloud of witnesses", those loved ones I call saints who are gathered close to God. Intentionally remembering and honoring the saints, both those with a capital "S" whom we share with the wider church community, or those more personal lower case "s" saints has become more important to me longer I live, and the more loved ones I bury. Some of those who have died seemed to die way too early. Some of my saints, such as my grandparents, died when I was so young I didn't really know them as people while they were alive. They were just grandparents. Only more recently have I desired to know more about their real lives. I wonder who they were as people. I wonder about their experiences through the World Wars and what it was like to parent my parents through teenage years. Those curiosities are a blessing and direct me to get to know the living who are around me.

It also changes the way I read about those capital "S" Saints the Church commemorates. We read of their great contributions to the world and church, the visions they wrote down through sicknesses, as well as their courageous response to God's call to care for the needy and neglected around them. They weren't always considered Saints, though. They were ordinary people who followed God's call, and then were eventually noticed. We honor them by remembering them on our calendars: St. Teresa of Avila, Claire and Francis of Assisi, are familiar names. We also honor Florence Li Tim-Oi, the first Anglican Woman to be ordained a priest, and Enmegahbowh, the first Indigenous Episcopal priest on our continent. Reading their stories reminds me the way God calls ordinary people in every generation to do extraordinary things. 

Jesus teaches the rich young man who comes to verify his "checklist to get into the kingdom of God" that with humanity, it may be impossible, but with God, all things are possible. We enter the kingdom by depending upon God's grace. Jesus teaches that truth after sharing a challenging parable about threading a needle with a camel. Learning to depend upon God is what leads people to fulfill our callings in life. It is  the Holy Spirit moving through us that changes the world around us and leads us to live the reality of the kingdom of God. 

This month especially we remember our saints and our Saints; it culminates in the celebration of All Saints' Day and las Dias de los Muertos; to do that, we place photos of our loved ones alongside candles and flowers, celebrating their lives on earth, and their peace in heaven. We lament our common loss and grief while we relish the sweet memories of when they were here and healthy. As the Autumn ushers us into a new season, we become aware of the seasons of our life, and remember that we will be reunited with all those who have gone before us, and God willing, live life to the fullest by following God's call in whatever season we find ourselves. Acutely aware that our list of saints grows with time, we follow examples of those who followed the Holy Spirit, and showed us by their lives that with God nothing is impossible.