Monica
writes: Today we celebrate All Saints Day, a day where we remember all the
people who have touched our lives, especially those whom we have loved and
lost. The scriptures remind us that
saints are not super-hero Christians, but ordinary folks doing their best to follow
Christ’s teachings. They were blessed
and were a blessing and we remember them flaws and all with love. At this time of unprecedented change, our
opportunities to mourn our losses have been curtailed as never before. Today we share in an ancient tradition, of
remembering and lamenting both our bereavements and our day to day losses of so
much we took for granted. The ability to
hug. To gather together in times of joy
and sorrow. To smile and laugh and
sing. We are in the midst of a great
redefinition of what normal is, and part of that is remembering that we are not
alone. Today we share the words of Alan
Wolfelt who penned this supportive wisdom for all who grieve and lament.
Dr. Alan Wolfelt is a specialist in grief support and writer of the Mourner's Bill of Rights found here: https://www.centerforloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MBR.pdf
These times we are living in mean that even if we have not
lost a loved one this year, we are still having our lives turned upside
down. We may never go back to wha
t we
remembered life being like, and just like our families who lived through immigration
to a new land, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, two world wars and more,
we will live through this. Even death
cannot stop the good news of God’s redemptive love. God is still at work, transforming and making
new in the midst of tragedy. This is Christianity’s
greatest message, that God is with us in life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone, thanks be to God!
