Frederick
Buechner described an extraordinary dream he once had, where he was in a hotel
room. In the dream, he really loved this room. Much more than you should,
actually, love a hotel room. Somehow, in this room he felt happy and at peace.
It seemed like everything in the room was exactly as it should be. And it felt
as if he, himself, was exactly as he should be.
At some
point he wandered off to other places and did other things, the way it often
happens in dreams. Eventually, he returned to the hotel, but this time he was
in a different room and it was not a comfortable experience. He went to the
front desk. He explained to the clerk that he would like to have his old room
back, that everything about it was perfect and he would much rather be there.
Unfortunately, he told the clerk, he couldn’t recall the room number or where
it was located. The clerk said, “I know exactly what room you’re talking about.
And you can return there whenever you like. All you have to do is ask for it by
name.”
He said to
the clerk, “I don’t remember the name of the room. What is the name?” And the
clerk told him the name of the room is Remember.
Then he woke
up. But he never forgot this dream. It was a good dream, but not only that.
Buechner felt it was a true dream.
Remembering
is something so central to the story of God and God’s people. Time and again
the scriptures tell us that God remembered God’s people, which is another way
of saying God cared for them, loved them. And in the same way, the scriptures
continually urge us to remember God and all the many ways God has provided for
us.
In
remembering, the way the scriptures encourage us to remember, we know how we
have come through so much in our lives. When we remember we see the highlights,
but also the dark moments from our past. We see the triumphs but also the
losses, every life has both, and all manner of stuff in between.
In
remembering, we see all the other people who mattered to us along the way. We
remember how they supported us, guided us, loved us. Maybe we remember how they
said just the right thing at the right time; that when there was something we
needed, they were there to provide it.
When we
remember in truth, we know that we came through all the highs and lows of our
lives not on our own power. No one does this alone; we have the help of one
another. But yet, in the room called Remember we sense that there is even
something more than that.
In
remembering, we know that what has carried us through it all is something
called grace; we know that we are only here, in this place and this time, by
grace.
And so we
are able to remember with a sense of gratitude – grateful for God’s grace, with
us through every step of our lives. By the power of God, which we receive
through God’s grace, we may remember our lives in their totality – the joys we
experienced, but also the very difficult and painful times when we even thought
it might be better to die than to have to live with such pain. When we
remember, we know that God was with us through those moments, too. We know that
we survived it all by God’s grace.
Even in our
gratitude, the pain may remain. The act of remembering the saints, as we do
every year at this time, is by its very nature painful. We ache for the losses
– the ones we loved, the ones we now long for. We cannot deny that even in
gratitude, the pain remains.
But there is
also this: In remembering the ways that God has been with us and for us through
all that life has dealt us, we know something about God that allows us to have
hope for the future. Remembering the blessings we have received in the past, we
may have hope for these days and the days to come.
It is a
blessing for us to remember, remember the all of it: The blessings and the
woes, the celebrations and the grieving, the fullness and the emptiness.
On All Saints’ Day we give particular
remembrance to the saints who have come before us, remembering the lives they
lived and the ways in which they bore the image of Christ. The image of Christ
we see in the beatitudes.
When Jesus ascended the mountain, turned
to the crowds, and began to speak, he set down a vision. This, he was saying,
is what I am about. There is a kingdom beyond this worldly kingdom where love
and grace and peace reign. The beatitudes give us a glimpse of this kingdom.
There are many people in our midst as
well as in our memories who have carried that vision, who have glimpsed the
light of God and lived their lives accordingly – with love toward their
neighbors, even when they disagreed; with empathy for the needs of others and
generosity to give what they could. Many of the saints who have gone before us
live on in our memories and serve as an inspiration for us to do the same.
To practice humility and mercy, to
mourn with those who mourn, to work for God’s righteousness and peace for all
of God’s beloved world. And to know ourselves blessed.
We remember
the saints today; we thank God for them, for the blessings they gave to the
world. And at the same time, let us recognize the saints in our midst.
The
Protestant tradition teaches that the saints are comprised of all believers.
All of us who have been given the gift of faith are given the gifts of the Holy
Spirit as well, which frees us to live our lives according to Jesus’ vision.
And so today
we also give thanks for the saints who are our neighbors, those who labor
alongside us in the Lord’s vineyard, holding Christ’s vision for all to see.
Because we know that we need them; no one walks this path alone.
Let us lift
one another up in prayer. And let us remember in deep thankfulness the lives of
the saints who have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the
faith.
