Putting together coherent thoughts and words is hard right now. So as I often do I turn to written words that carry my tired soul along. This reflection on All Saints Day touches beautifully on the saints we all have in our lives. As the veil between this life and the next stretches very thin for my mom, my gratitude for her saintly gifts grows. As my family keeps vigil, we are more and more aware of the sacredness of the space we share with her and each other right now. It is indeed holy ground.
All Saints Day by Steve Garnass-Holmes
I praise the Saints who have graced us:
the Great Saints, Francis and Teresa and the gang;
but especially the Lesser Saints,
those who have humbly, perhaps unknowingly,
shed light in our lives.
I am grateful for the people
who have blessed you—yes, you, dear reader,
who have loved you more than necessary,
who have taught you and forgiven you
and shown you what love is possible.
I give thanks for those who endured silently
and those who showed you how to rise up and shout.
I bless those who didn’t yell at you,
and showed you a new path.
I thank God for the saints whose brokenness,
whose imperfections, faults and failures
showed you what a glorious light can shine
in a cracked lantern.
For all who have helped you know your belovedness
I give thanks, because now you, dear one,
are sanctified, too: chosen as Love’s vessel,
no more deserving or adequate or worthy than others,
but loved, and chosen as Love’s vessel.
May you know with certainty that you can’t know
who you have blessed, but that, like all Saints,
you have.
