A Word from Laura: Grieving and Getting Ready

As we enter the final countdown to the election, I am fiercely proud of the spirit abounding in Westerners who have connected faithfully with get-out-the-vote efforts. I’m also tired, looking forward to the end of this drawn-out cycle in the midst of unprecedented anxiety. I know that we need energy for addressing inequities, righting injustices and finding healing together, as communities and as a nation.

This Sunday before the election is All Saints’ Day. In the Presbyterian tradition, we understand that means all the faithful who have gone before. It’s Dia de los Muertos for native Spanish speakers, La Toussaint in the Francophone world, Undas for Filipinos. This ancient celebration can be traced to pre-Christian remembrances of the dead. I’ve wondered if there’s something about this time of year in the northern hemisphere, as the light changes and leaves begin to fall, that turns our hearts and minds to what and whom we’ve lost. 

This year, as we gird ourselves for Election Day, given all the losses we have suffered, we need All Saints’ Day to grieve together. Before we can embrace the challenges that await, we need to grieve our losses:

·       Friends, loved ones and close to 1.2 million around the world who have been lost to the Covid virus

·       Black lives lost in extrajudicial killings; we will say their names;

·       Leaders who shaped our nation and society;

·       Those whose lives left imprints on our own.

The beatitudes, this Sunday’s scripture passage, remind us, “Blessed are those who mourn.” Jesus isn’t trying to prove it’s true; he simply declares it to be so. We tend not to see mourning as blessing, though. Jesus wants us to know that those who grieve know a blessing. 

This Sunday we remember to mourn, not to be morbid, but because grief brings its own blessing. Grief allows us to re-center again after our loss, so that we might find goodness once again in this life. We grieve together, this year virtually in worship, finding strength as we discover that we are not alone. 

As you prepare for worship, I encourage you to light a candle in your space, in memory of those we have lost, in solidarity with all who mourn, as we share in our observance of All Saints’ Day. I hope you will turn on your camera as names are read during our communion prayer, so that all may see your light in the midst of the lights of all who worship with us. If you wish for me to say a particular name, please email me no later than 5 pm on Saturday afternoon. 

As we grieve together, may we come to know God’s blessing in a new way. Sure of God’s goodness, a promise no candidate can make, may we find our center. Centered and encouraged, may we discover we have all we need to keep living into God’s love and justice. 

Wherever you are in this process, I’m proud of you and pulling for you,
Laura