"For those who walked with us, this is a prayer. For those who have gone ahead, this is a blessing. For those who touched and tended us, who lingered with us while they lived, this is a thanksgiving. For those who journey still with us in the shadows of awareness, in the crevices of memory, in the landscape of our dreams, this is a benediction."  Jan L. Richardson

Yesterday we celebrated the Festival of All Saints during our morning worship. The official celebration day on the church calendar is November 1st but we usually observe it on the Sunday before. It is a particularly meaningful day for many people. As we take time from the busyness of our lives to say aloud the names of those we loved who have died, we not only speak but we listen to how they have shaped who we are. I am always moved by the ways in which people place pictures or symbols of their loved ones on our worship table. As these photos are placed in our midst, I sense their presence with us and feel I can almost see the great cloud of witnesses of all those who have gone on standing around us, behind us, among us, ever so near.

It is a powerful experience to think of  the saints in our lives. Saints are not, as we so often believe, those who are perfect. They are instead those who have, through their living, helped us to see the face of God more fully. I read a novel once of a woman who wore this amazing, flowing skirt on which she had sewn charms that represented the saints of her life.On this garment were charms of books, sewing needles,several hearts, an arm, a leg, some animals,crosses, a hammer, on and on, all no bigger than a thumbnail made of gold and silver. As she moved about, the saints jingled and jangled around her, reminding her in her very movement of all those who had shaped her life.

Who are your saints? Who has moved in and perhaps out of your life that has shown you the face of the Holy and helped you become the person you are today? Who has brought you hope, lifted you up, shared their heart…and maybe even a hammer…in a way that gives flesh and blood to the image of God on Earth?

I invite you, wherever you are, to say their name(s) aloud,sending the sound of the syllables of your saint into the space around you. As you take your next breath, remember the gifts they have given to you. Allow your words to be a prayer, a blessing, a thanksgiving and a benediction.