31. All Saints Day, Podcast for November 1, 2020

November 1st is the middle child in what is collectively called ‘Allhallowtide’ – a triduum, three days of commemoration that includes All Hallows Eve – which has been shortened in our modern English to Halloween, all Saints Day, November 1, and All Souls Day, November 2nd. So, though we tend to think of October 31st as a blitz of candy and costumes, it is actually, originally, a Christian holiday and part of our feast calendar.

So, if you ate too much candy last night, or were revelling in some other way, lovely and good, hope you enjoyed yourself. Now we gather on all saints day to remember all those who brought us safely to this moment of breath, all those who continue to uplift us, to gather us, to care for and love us, and to see within our precious selves that we are saintly also - not by what we do or do not. But by the very nature of being human, and thus connected to the divine spark, the heartbeat of humanity, to the source of all life and love.Which is why I am more and more grateful for the wisdom of a Sabbath practice, a day or time when we lay aside the harness of our lives that drives us to control and manipulate this world, to draw profit from it, to change it, to alter the course of time, to concern ourselves with its direction.

May we be counted among that number who still lives for your great dreams for humanity again and again and again . . . bolstered by the resolve that we are stronger together when we sacrifice together for the common wealth, the common good, the common cause of justice and peace.

— Nancy Hastings Sehested