All Saints' Day

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day. Most churches will celebrate the festival this coming Sunday. At Christ the Redeemer, this Sunday, there will be time set aside to lift up the names of those saints who have passed to the eternal life. This Sunday, perhaps, more than most, you will have a heightened awareness of what it means when the phrases "angels, archangels, and the hosts heaven" or "the communion of saints" are uttered during the Eucharist. The readings, the hymns and the prayers all will be drawing our attention to the amazing eternal presence of the triune God and all who walk forever in His embrace. How awesome it is to be so keenly aware of the abiding presence of All The Saints who now rest from their earthly labor. As you hear the long list of names of departed loved ones, I pray that you will be aware of an awesome and abiding companionship that may typically go unnoticed! I pray that you will be drawn into AWE!

Recently I was in a discussion about the importance of remembering the attitude of "awe" when we are worshipping. Awe is not something we can accomplish by thinking about it. In fact, the more we try to figure out what stimulates awe, the more we limit its depth and breadth. At some point in time, we are invited by God's awesomeness to simply dwell in the moment that we notice it. Then we return to the tangible and temporal places of our life with a deeper appreciation for the love and power that is always present -- the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary.

This Sunday, All Saints' Sunday is one of the Sundays of the church year when "awe" may be most universally experienced by the assembly at CRLC -- bookmark that awareness in the rhythms of your mind -- it is there every single Sunday!

ps....If you haven't read the posting from September 15, 2007, I encourage you to do so... Aunt Catherine is one of the saints I name on All Saints' Day.