All Saints, Funerals, and the History of a Really Big Family

This past Sunday we celebrated All Saints Sunday. Apart from the really BIG festivals of the Church (Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, Epiphany), it's one of my favorite Sundays:
  -- I love that it looks backward in time to those saints of blessed memory, our forebears in faith.
  -- I love that it makes us look in the mirror and look around the room, reminding us that in baptism, God names US saints, too. That we are called and claimed and sent out in the world with holy purposes and power.
  -- I love that it looks forward in time, to the fullness of God's kingdom when pain and tears and death are no more and we will join one amazing party before the throne of the King.
  -- And of course I love all the candles. Ecclesiastical pyromania is one of my strong suits.

Photo from:
 http://www.crizmac.com/artandsoul/index.php/2010/10/04/ofrenda/

I've long wondered about the Mexican celebration of Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. I've never really been one to decorate with skeletons, somehow it's seemed more morbid than necessary to me. That said, something about the construction of the family offrenda each year, a small altar with candles and pictures of family and friends resting in the promise of the resurrection, appeals to me more and more. I think it comes from the desire to pass on the family stories to my daughters with more intention than the random, "You look just like my Grandma right now!" offerings. Adding icons or pictures of other saints can be a great way to remember that Christ's Church is a whole lot bigger than the congregation I am a part of, and knows no national or ethnic boundaries. And maybe the skeletons aren't such a bad reminder that unless the kingdom comes in all its fullness first, each and every one of us is going to die. Holding that thought in our heads can be a good perspective-keeper.

One of my best friends from seminary posted a link on facebook to an old article/story on NPR's page - "Always Go to the Funeral." I encourage you to read it. And I encourage you to have conversations about death and dying, and the promise of the resurrection, with your children during "ordinary" time - regular run of the mill days when you are not grieving or anticipating the death of someone you know and love. There are lots of resources for those kinds of conversations. Look for a future post with some of them highlighted.