The Healing Balm of All Saints' Day
by Teri Daily
My husband’s grandmother died last year at the age of 100. Up until the year she died, Thanksgiving dinner at her small home in Sparkman, Arkansas, was a sacred pilgrimage in the Denton/Daily family. Kitchen counters were covered with at least three kinds of meats (turkey, beef brisket, and fried chicken), peas (both green and crowder), three varieties of beans (green, baked, and lima), corn, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes, potato salad, dressing, gravy, pans of homemade yeast rolls, and so much more. Granny always remembered what each grandchild liked and disliked. Every time that we ate at her home, a small Tupperware dish containing pimento-free potato salad would be waiting in the refrigerator for my pimento-hating husband. It was a tangible way to show how much she loved him. These days the knife Granny used to cut vegetables, blade worn down to almost a sliver, stays on our kitchen windowsill. Even though Dave and his grandmother are now on different sides of the veil separating the living from the dead, I suspect simply seeing that knife makes him feel loved. We often find hope, love, and strength in those who have gone before us.
We need this kind of encouragement. The past few months have held plenty of chaos, darkness, and uncertainty. We find ourselves separated by distance; for some of us, even six feet can seem like a million miles. We find ourselves beset by fear, anxiety, and depression. We have not been able to gather as a community to grieve those who have died this year or to celebrate those who have been born. Some of us face significant financial hardship. With our planet in peril, we find ourselves increasingly separated from the very creation that sustains us. We are a nation divided by political party and ideologies. And we could use some hope, comfort, and courage.
Today is All Saints’ Day in the Church, a day on which we remember all the saints, known and unknown, living and dead. (In the Christian scriptures, the term “saint” refers to anyone within the Christian community.) Today we celebrate the communion of saints; we celebrate that all Christians, living and dead, are bound together in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. It is a relational feast day.
Perhaps All Saints’ Day and the communion of saints speaks to us more this year than ever. In a time of “social-distancing” and not being able to gather as a community, the communion of saints reminds us that we are still bound to one another by the Holy Spirit at work in us. We are not alone but are surrounded by an invisible and holy cloud of witnesses to encourage and comfort us, to give us hope and strength.
Some theologians also remind us that the original Latin term for the communion of saints (communion sanctorum) is actually ambiguous; it can refer to the communion of both holy people and holy things.[1] There’s no need to make the activity of the Holy Spirit so markedly anthropocentric. As we broaden our view to include both meanings of the term, we become increasingly aware of our bond with all of creation.
It seems the Holy Spirit is, after all, no respecter of boundaries. The Holy Spirit joins not just the living to the dead, but also the famous to the unknown, the present to the past, the near to the far, Democrats to Republicans, Episcopalians and Baptists to all who have experienced the grace of God whether they name it so or not. The Holy Spirit is not nearly as exclusive as we tend to be. How arrogant it seems for those of us in the Church to “decide” with whom we will be in communion, as if it were up to us. The bonds are there – our job is simply to recognize and honor them.
That is the work of this day. If ever we needed to be reminded that we are not alone but are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, now is the time. If ever we needed to confess our connection with all of creation, now is the time. If ever we needed to recognize our unity with those whose political beliefs are the polar opposite of our own, now is the time. All Saints’ Day may be the healing balm we need in today’s world.
[1] Elizabeth Johnson, “Circle of Friends: A Closer Look at the Communion of Saints,” U.S. Catholic, July 27, 2011, https://uscatholic.org/articles/201101/circle-of-friends-a-closer-look-at-the-communion-of-saints/.
We need this kind of encouragement. The past few months have held plenty of chaos, darkness, and uncertainty. We find ourselves separated by distance; for some of us, even six feet can seem like a million miles. We find ourselves beset by fear, anxiety, and depression. We have not been able to gather as a community to grieve those who have died this year or to celebrate those who have been born. Some of us face significant financial hardship. With our planet in peril, we find ourselves increasingly separated from the very creation that sustains us. We are a nation divided by political party and ideologies. And we could use some hope, comfort, and courage.
Today is All Saints’ Day in the Church, a day on which we remember all the saints, known and unknown, living and dead. (In the Christian scriptures, the term “saint” refers to anyone within the Christian community.) Today we celebrate the communion of saints; we celebrate that all Christians, living and dead, are bound together in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. It is a relational feast day.
Perhaps All Saints’ Day and the communion of saints speaks to us more this year than ever. In a time of “social-distancing” and not being able to gather as a community, the communion of saints reminds us that we are still bound to one another by the Holy Spirit at work in us. We are not alone but are surrounded by an invisible and holy cloud of witnesses to encourage and comfort us, to give us hope and strength.
Some theologians also remind us that the original Latin term for the communion of saints (communion sanctorum) is actually ambiguous; it can refer to the communion of both holy people and holy things.[1] There’s no need to make the activity of the Holy Spirit so markedly anthropocentric. As we broaden our view to include both meanings of the term, we become increasingly aware of our bond with all of creation.
It seems the Holy Spirit is, after all, no respecter of boundaries. The Holy Spirit joins not just the living to the dead, but also the famous to the unknown, the present to the past, the near to the far, Democrats to Republicans, Episcopalians and Baptists to all who have experienced the grace of God whether they name it so or not. The Holy Spirit is not nearly as exclusive as we tend to be. How arrogant it seems for those of us in the Church to “decide” with whom we will be in communion, as if it were up to us. The bonds are there – our job is simply to recognize and honor them.
That is the work of this day. If ever we needed to be reminded that we are not alone but are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, now is the time. If ever we needed to confess our connection with all of creation, now is the time. If ever we needed to recognize our unity with those whose political beliefs are the polar opposite of our own, now is the time. All Saints’ Day may be the healing balm we need in today’s world.
[1] Elizabeth Johnson, “Circle of Friends: A Closer Look at the Communion of Saints,” U.S. Catholic, July 27, 2011, https://uscatholic.org/articles/201101/circle-of-friends-a-closer-look-at-the-communion-of-saints/.