for all the saints...

Yesterday was the day where we celebrate All Souls' Day at St. Andrew's. Some years ago a colleague and friend of mine suggested that we use the day in chapel to celebrate all the "saints" in our lives who are no longer with us. The result was a slideshow that included pictures of grandparents, parents, friends, cousins, pets, etc... People or furry-creatures who were near and dear to us but had passed away. It's one of the most powerful services we have all year. It's also one of the saddest - but in a sweet, sad way.
I was so overwhelmed by emotion yesterday - my usual tears but also just a deep, deep sense of gratitude and connection. So I wrote this to share with my colleagues:

I am thankful for...this community and being a part of it.

I know that the "I am thankful for..." service is coming up later this month but as I sat in my office all afternoon, as I'm sitting here at home this evening, and as I sat in chapel today, I find myself feeling overwhelmed (yet again) by this place and the people that make it what it is. What a treasure to have a chapel service like we had today - even if my eyes are still burning from crying. As always, it's a time of the day that draws us together, but today's service seems to do it in a more profound way. It humanizes us; it connects us at a very basic level of love and loss. It makes me sad for the people who are no longer in our lives. But, as one colleague reminded me (just when I needed reminding), it makes me glad that as a community we have so very many people (and furry friends) who are special to us that we would be able to have a slideshow like that. I thought about the people in the slideshow who are of no relation to me and yet feel like family because they are extensions of this St. Andrew's family. And that means something to me. (Well, it means a lot to me.)
So, thank you to everyone else who had a hand in the slideshow - either putting it together or making sure we could see it and hear it today. I will sleep better tonight remembering today and knowing that I get to go back to SAS again tomorrow.

And it's true. I was struck by the number of deaths that I'd experienced over the 15 years that I've been at St. Andrew's. Not in my own personal family but the loved ones of my St. Andrew's family. That was touching and tough. But all in all, it made me feel surrounded by a host of loving folks here on earth and all sorts of saints in the world to come...