Sunday, November 1, 2020   Solemnity of All Saints        (today’s lectionary)
God’s glorious nobodies
Who will be there, who is there now? What will we do here while we’re waiting to see?
Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord, who may stand in his holy place?
And what happened yesterday to prepare the way for today? All Hallows Eve, Halloween, Samhain, harvest festival and the time to bring animals into the home for the coming winter. This was/is “a time of year when the veil between living and dead was particularly porous, when the spirits of the dearly departed could more easily return to their earthly homes.” Call it “Solemn” if you must, but this is a Feast day to celebrate all sorts of good deeds and generosity.
I had a vision of a great multitude which no one could even count. Every nation, race, people and tongue stood before the Throne wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out, “Salvation comes from our God!”
Garrison Keillor recalls a tradition common to Britain and Ireland in the Middle Ages called “souling.” Poor people went door to door on “Hallowmas” and offered to pray for the family’s beloved dead souls in exchange for food. And there was also “mumming,” another opportunity to walk the neighborhood “performing wacky antics in exchange for food and drink.” Sound familiar?
Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God … from every tribe, a great multitude …
In my Moonie days, living in East Finchley, my missionary instructions were to find someone who would freely provide me meals and a place to sleep. Maria, Len and their three young kids offered, and I accepted. So then every one of these London summer days I walked and knocked on every door, introduced myself and my renegade church, and offered to help. Simple, that.
Beloved, see what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.
I raked leaves and washed windows, swept floors, cleaned kitchens, and folded clothes. I sat some afternoons with a sherry-soaked former damsel who wanted more than what I had to offer, and just around the corner I met an Iranian girl from whom I wanted more than she had to offer. A WWII RAF officer turned Anglican rector became a lasting friend. We raked leaves together and swept the steps clean of his mostly empty church.
And then we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Happy are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
In 1978, unemployment was at a post-WWII high in London. So many people just wanted to talk, and what better gift than to listen? The conversations were priceless. I remember an older man from India whose flat smelled like curry (of course). He was a cartographer and we traveled around the world together. I think of a Jewish banker who refused to accept my refusal to accept his wages. We parted friends, I think.
Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
All my friends were in walking distance. And so I walked the streets day by day, other than taking the Underground to Sunday meetings with Rev. Moon at the Meetinghouse. Every morning and every evening I shared meals with Maria and her family.
Come to me, all of you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
These people, wearing white robes, picking up palms and seeking peace … they are everywhere. They are in cars heading home and on the corners homeless. They are you and they are me, and day and night, all of us are safe as we fall into the arms of the living God.
Lord, this is the people that long to see your face. These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.
Still yet. As Thomas Merton saw at 4th and Walnut in Louisville, “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
(Revelation 7, Psalm 24, 1 John 3, Matthew 11, Matthew 5)
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