Today, as I write this, is November 1st, All Saints’ Day. It is a day in the life of the church when we take time to remember those we have loved and those we have lost.
These are the people we have been lucky to know, who in all their mystique have had a profound impact on our lives. We want to remember them.
And we also remember those on whose shoulders we stand – those whom we have never known, but whose lives have benefited from them. Those who struggle, those who are bold, those who are brilliant, those who are kind, those who sacrifice, those who are complicated, those who have doubts, and those who do more than just for their own prosperity. Not for the prosperity of all people, but the faithful who are forced to work and live by faith.
I found myself thinking about my grandmother today. Widowed in 1945, near the end of World War II, she was left with no insurance, social security, or any family property. She had nothing but her five young children and her potentially debilitating grief. But our government cared about her and hers. She has been a welfare mother for five years. This proud, formerly self-sufficient woman. Finally, she became a librarian. And what will happen to the little children, including my mother? Thanks to the saints in their community, they were able to get a house to live in, a meal in the morning, and clothes to wear to school. Thanks to those Saints, she was able to receive welfare benefits through taxes. Thank you to the just and caring members of Congress who have created a government that supports and helps those in need.
As the election results become known to us, I hope that our country and our communities will, in far-reaching and very special ways, be a place of compassion for those who are suffering and hurting. I pray that it will be a place of hope for fertile soil for building a just and safe society. And a bright future for everyone.
I imagine such a place would be so proud of the Saints who came before us.
