Remembering: 1 November 2009

When I was quite young we had one black and white TV in the living room of our house. Grandma and Grandpa were the first in the whole family to purchase the latest technology of the time: a color television. There was such excitement when visiting them as we watched programs “in living color”. It felt as if we were seeing programs and actors in a new way and for the very first time. But alas, when visiting time was over and we returned to the drabness of black and white.

The view from my window on this cloudy, rainy and windy afternoon is a stark reminder that autumn is waning and those long, cold winter months will soon be upon us. The lush green of many fields has turned to various shades of brown, the colors of foliage have dulled considerably, and the leaves on the trees in our woods have thinned so much so that in many places one can see clear through the woods to the other side. All too soon the predominant colors of our Midwestern landscape will become black and white. This particular time of year, when our natural surroundings begins to look so barren on the heels of providing us with such splendid colors, gives us the opportunity to pause and consider endings and memories and…beginnings.

According to the Christian calendar we celebrate All Saints Day on Sunday and All Soul’s Day on Monday. We remember all those who have gone before us from this life. Did they make a difference? The saints, the canonized ones according to the Church, certainly did. But I suggest we consider all our dear departed loved ones as saints in their own right. Were they perfect? No, just as we are not perfect, but neither were most of the people officially declared as saints by the Church! Those with whom we had a connection during their life certainly had an influence on us – whether the relationship we shared with them was good or strained, they made a difference in our lives and our world if only through helping to shape who we have grown to become.

On Sunday and Monday consider joining me in celebrating the lives of our dear departed loved ones. Pay a visit to the cemetery or mausoleum. Flip through old photo albums. Ponder and savor the memories. Gather with family and tell the stories of their lives. Light a candle in remembrance. Because of the death of our loved ones life has truly changed but it just as certainly not ended – for us or for them. Jesus said: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37). How comforting it is we have such a loving and gracious Creator who turns what we feel as an ending into a whole new beginning…much like the promise of spring’s new life awaits us after the barrenness of winter.

Peace on the Journey