All Saints Sunday

Let us turn our attention away from the world of work, a topic that has had me preoccupied this week, as I've started a new job.  Let us remember the larger vision, the world of the soul.  And today, let us remember the souls that are no longer contained in their human bodies.

Today, in many churches, we will commemorate our dead as we celebrate this Sunday of All Saints.  Traditionally, this day celebrates the saints who have gone on before us.  Traditionalists would not approve of what this church festival has become.  Most churches celebrate All Saints Day as the day we celebrate the lives of all our loved ones who have died, whether they were consistently saintly or not.  Traditionalists would only celebrate the lives of the truly beatified and the lives of those martyred for the faith.
In this All Saints post, the wonderful artist Vonda Drees used this quote by Henri Nouwen, which has stayed with me all week:

"Remembering the dead is choosing their ongoing companionship."

The larger quote is wonderful too:

"As we grow older we have more and more people to remember, people who have died before us. It is very important to remember those who have loved us and those we have loved. Remembering them means letting their spirits inspire us in our daily lives. They can become part of our spiritual communities and gently help us as we make decisions on our journeys. Parents, spouses, children, and friends can become true spiritual companions after they have died. Sometimes they can become even more intimate to us after death than when they were with us in life.

Remembering the dead is choosing their ongoing companionship."

 Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith; the entry for August 29

Let me see what happens if I add some photos of  Mepkin Abbey burial sites to this Henri Nouwen quote:



The Ongoing Companionship of the Dead


As we grow older we have more and more people to remember, people who have died before us.

It is very important to remember those who have loved us and those we have loved.

Remembering them means letting their spirits inspire us in our daily lives.

They can become part of our spiritual communities and gently help us as we make decisions on our journeys.

Parents, spouses, children, and friends can become true spiritual companions after they have died.

Sometimes they can become even more intimate to us after death than when they were with us in life.

Remembering the dead is choosing their ongoing companionship