Last evening I was privileged to be a part of a group of worshipers who gathered to remember and name the saints, those who have graced our lives but are no longer visible and those whose faces we are blessed to see every day. Our sanctuary was packed with generations of people who have also stood by those who work for the equality of all people. While remembering the saints and speaking their names aloud so they danced in the air around us, we also held before one another and God one of the proposed amendments before the people of Minnesota which would limit the way our state constitution defines marriage. We were the people saying ‘no’.

Watching this process unfold as we have over the last months I am once again stunned at humanity’s ability to inflict pain and suffering on one another. Of course, as people of faith we need look no further that the scriptures to see this human tendency. People who want to create a circle around their understanding of God, a circle that includes them and excludes others. People who scoff at what some hold dear and lift up as holy what they cherish. Those who want to write the rules to fit their fears, their perceived ability to control the world, their understanding of the scriptures, to keep all that seems different at bay. People who believe they have a monopoly on the Word of God. Last night the people gathered dared to proclaim a different gospel.

The words that called us into worship had a refrain spoken by the gathered community: Day by day, we bring forth the Love of God. Led by a single voice this response grew stronger and more powerful with each repeating. Day by day, we bring forth the Love of God…….on the chaos of the world…….to transform the world…….as treasures to one another and our communities……to those assigned to the margins of church and society. We spoke this affirmation with conviction and confidence. For our time. For that place. In that hour.

All Saint’s Day is about peering through the veil that connects heaven and earth. It is about naming and re-naming those people who have shone forth God’s face to us in ways large and small. Last night that veil was very thin. I believe those throughout time who have worked for justice smiled through. I believe those who have been excluded for all the reasons humanity is wont to do so offered their grace. I believe that, for a brief shining moment in time, we offered goodness, kindness, humility and the love of God into the world. I believe all the saints hovered and held the space for us.

Day by day we bring forth the Love of God. Some days we are just more aware of it than others. Yesterday was one of them.