For All the saints...

In the Episcopal Church today we celebrate the Saints, all those who have gone before us, who have taught us and guided us, loved us and hurt for us. We call today All Saints Day as we remember our great cloud of witnesses, those who have "run with endurance the race that was set before them" and have made a significant difference in the life of the church. And then tomorrow we celebrate All Souls Day, when we remember all the faithful departed, those known only to us and not necessarily to the world, who have left this life but we now know are in life eternal.

Our gospel reading for today is a part of the well known Sermon on the Mount given by Jesus in which he lays out a collection of teachings about what the beloved community will look like, a list of what we must do if we want to "be on the right road" with God.

You know the blesseds...Blessed are the meek, those who mourn, the poor in spirit and the peacemakers etc.

I offer you today and extraordinary list of "blesseds" from an extraordinary Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. She has quite a way of stirring up the beloved community to make it totally inclusive and diverse. Try to find your selves or those you know on this list

Blessed are the agnostics. Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren’t sure, who can still be surprised.

Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information.

Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are they for whom nothing seems to be working.

Blessed are the pre-schoolers who cut in line at communion.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction. |Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears are as real as an ocean.

Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like.

Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.

Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted any more.

Blessed are they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else.

Blessed are the motherless, the alone, the ones from whom so much has been taken.

Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it yet.”

Blessed are they who laughed again when for so long they thought they never would. Blessed are those who mourn.

You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.