All Souls in a Covid World
Today we gather with Christians all around the world who will light candles and remember loved ones who have died over the last year. We do this because November 1st has for at least 12 centuries been All Saints Day. This is the day Christians have remembered all those who firstly died as martyrs, and then all those great people of faith (saints) who the rest of us look up to and are inspired by. From the twelfth or thirteenth centuries All Souls Day was held on November 2 to remember ALL people of faith, especially those we grieve. Today we remember all those who have gone before us, who have paved the way for us, and especially those we have loved and who loved us, and those who inspire us. As we honour their memory and give thanks for the ways they have blessed us over our lifetimes, we take another step in letting them go, trusting that they now rest in God, as they have always. This year All Souls is particularly poignant. For many 2020 has been a hard year. Life as we knew it...