“All Saints, All Souls”

As you know, Halloween is coming up this Friday. If you haven’t bought your treat, it’s time.  The practice of “trick or treat” on Halloween is believed to have begun with the "Hallowmas" or “Allhallows” festival. In pre-Christian Celtic places (Britain and northwestern France) it was a night to remember the dead and be concerned that they are returning to walk among us during this night. Halloween evolved from the very old Celtic new-year festival of Samhain with some elements of a Roman autumn festival.

All Saints Day has traditionally been observed by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Orthodox churches on or near November1st. This placement in the calendar year was no accident, for it was by design that the early Christian church placed its holiday observances to coincide with existing Pagan festivals,  and by doing so to replace them with Christian celebrations. All Saints Day was held during the time of  Samhain – the belief was that, although it could not be erased, it could be transformed into something knew. The first All Saints Day occurred on May 13, 609 (C.E.)

The intent of All Saints Day is to honor all saints of the church, known and unknown. It is a solemn occasion wherein the Christian Church remembers and offers reverence to all the great Christian saints and especially martyrs who died for their faith. It's a time for remembering and even worshipping those many great religious figures who helped to shape the Christian Church.

Following directly after All Saints Day, November 2, is All Souls, a Roman Catholic observance set aside for Christians to pray for those souls believed to be in purgatory. A Catholic Encyclopedia said All Souls is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the “beatific vision”, (the immediate knowledge of God which souls know in heaven) Those faithful departed may be helped to move from purgatory to heaven by prayers of the living and by the sacrifice of the mass.

Beliefnet.com offered a more liberal description: “This is the time for honoring our beloved dead who are not famed in story and legend, in song and scripture. You might say, it is an occasion for honoring the "little people," the "ordinary people," of Earth's past. It's a time for remembering with respect and affection all those people, now dead, whose lives are intertwined with ours in ways both known and unknown.”

With All Souls and All Saints Day together,  the Christian church accounted for the saints and those faithful departed who may or may not have made it on their own to heaven. You might wonder if they worried about those souls in hell. Irish Catholic peasants worried that the damned might be unhappy enough to cause trouble. So it became customary to bang pots and pans on All Hallows Eve to let the damned know they were not forgotten. Thus, in Ireland at least, all the dead came to be acknowledged--even if the clergy were not terribly sympathetic, and never allowed All-Damned-Day into the church calendar.

I have to believe that this particular observance of All Saints Day is especially timely for Catholics.  Last Sunday the news was full of the fact that Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa of Calcutta, bringing her one step closer to sainthood in the Catholic Church. There are several requirements.  Key among them is that  miracles occur attributed to her that can be attributed to after her death.  In 1997 a 30-year-old Indian woman, Monica Besra, was allegedly healed of stomach cancer after praying to the nun. A Committee has studied this event and verified this miracle as real.  Another miracle will have to be attributed to her  before she can be canonized. Pope John Paul II has canonized 464 saints, more than all his predecessors in the last four centuries combined.

Before I go on – A little All Soul’s humor that’s too good to pass up….

You know that when Mother Teresa died, she went straight to heaven. There’s no surprise there.

What you may not know is that God was there at the Pearly Gates in person waiting to welcome her.

“Be thou hungry, Mother Teresa?” asked God

“I could eat,” Mother Teresa replied.

So they repaired to a magnificent abode where God opened a can of tuna and reached for a chunk of rye bread, which they shared.

While eating this humble meal Mother Teresa glanced down into Hell and saw the inhabitants devouring huge steaks, lobsters, pheasants, pastries, and wines. Curious, but deeply trusting, she remained silent.

The next day, God again invited her for a meal. Again, it was tuna and rye bread. And once again, Mother Teresa could see the inhabitants of hell enjoying caviar, champagne, lamb, truffles, and chocolates. Still, she said nothing.

The following day, mealtime arrived, and another can of tuna was opened. She could no longer contain herself.

Meekly she said, “God, I am grateful to be in heaven with you as a reward for the pious, obedient life I tried to lead while on earth. But here in heaven, all I get to eat is tuna and a piece of rye bread, and in the other place, they eat like emperors and kings! I just don’t understand.”

God sighed, “Well, Mother Teresa, let’s be honest.”  “For just two people, does it really pay to cook?”

We Unitarian Universalists have no procedures for creation of saints.   We don’t believe in  literal heaven, purgatory or hell,  nor do we seek evidence of miracles that defy the laws of science.

Time and again when I study the world’s varied religious observances I find myself facing situations like this one.  As a Unitarian Universalist I do not believe the ancient reasoning that supports All Saints or All Souls.   At this point, in case I am on the verge of throwing a baby out with the bathwater, it is good to ask whether this observance, in spite of what I just said, might yet have something to offer.

(I confess, when I step outside a believers’ point of view and earnestly ask “Is there something going on here from which I can benefit?  I feel, at once, very earnest and yet disrespectful.) 

Mother Teresa will be the newest focus in the Christian canon of saints. She will be lifted up because she  inspired the world with her tireless compassion, her devotion to the sick and the poor and the despised – her enormous, unwavering service to God as she understood God.  Her single-mindedness, her simplicity and consistency captured the world’s imagination. In her own eyes, Mother Teresa was simply  “God’s pencil, a tiny bit of pencil with which He writes what he likes.”

In a 1981 interview, Mother Teresa spoke about another champion of the poor (someone who incidentally, is also canonized by the church) St Francis of Assissi.  He is another whose life will be lifted up. Mother Teresa once commented on a famous story of a turning point in Francis’ life, when he encounters a leper by the side of the road and passes him by.  Then Francis realizes that if he is going to devote his life to the poor he must embrace the leper, he must welcome him into his life like a brother.  Francis then runs to the leper’s aid.  Mother Teresa commented, “The encounter with the leper made St. Francis.” St Francis inspired Mother Teresa. Their life stories are lifted up at this time of year to challenge us to envision our own lives differently.  What would your life look like if it were to be lived out inspired by God, informed to act by your very highest values? Francis was made by the leper. Mother Teresa was made by her encounter with the poor in the gutters of Calcutta. What in your life, that you are exposed to every day, that others might pass by with a blind eye, might be waiting to transform you, make you more giving?

Christian religious leaders are asking their parishioners to think of saints as those who have guided them on their spiritual journey. Asking, “Who are the people in your life, though not perfect, have, by their caring and example have inspired you – helped show you the way, helped pull or nudge you in the right direction?  If you were asked to create a list of saints in your life, whom would you name?” These are good questions.  I think of historical saints such as  - not perfect, but people who showed the way – such ax Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. I think of local saints such as Elizabeth Tarbox, former minister here and inspiration to many who knew her. I think of my mother – again, not perfect, not a saint – but someone who taught me so much about goodness as a way of life. I think about Ralph Waldo Emerson who I will preach about next week.  I think of the late Catholic writer Henri Nouwen who wrote, “When we think about the people who have given us hope and have increased the strength of our soul, we might not discover that they were the advice givers, warners or moralists, but the few who were able to articulate in words and actions the human condition in which we participate and who encourage us to face the realities of life.”

I’ve been reading an anthology of sacred literature compiled by Eknath Esawaran, an esteemed teacher of meditation. (a book brought to my attention by Valerie Fontiane)  Esawaran says the great principle upon which meditation rests is that we become what we meditate on. With that in mind, he invites his students to meditate upon the great souls.

Esawaran tells of an Indian sculptor renowned for his life-sized statues of elephants.  Asked the secret of his artistry.  He said,

“At first I observe the huge block of stone from every angle, and I see a shapeless rock, meaningless, indifferent to my purposes.  Then, as I sit and study it, I begin to notice something in the substance of the rock… an outline, scarcely discernible, shows itself to me.  I watch with an open eye and a joyous, eager heart.  Oh, yes, I can see it! An elephant is stirring in there!”

Only then do I start to work. For days flowing into weeks I use my chisel and mallet, always clinging to the sense of that outline.  How the big fellow strains!  How he yearns to be out! How he wants to live! I must chip away every last bit of stone that is not elephant.  What remains will be, must be, elephant.”

When asked “What happens in the spiritual life?  What are we supposed to do?”  This story of the elephant tells us we do not need to bring our higher self, into existence.  It is already there.  By focusing on, by meditating on the qualities of goodness  wherever we find it, we can begin to release our inner goodness.  It is there, it has always been there, yearning to be out. That is, I think, one Unitarian Universalist way of expressing an objective that underlies All Saints Day. Which Christians observe this coming Saturday. An now we have come to our moment to lift up those who inspire our hearts and inform our heritage.

All Souls Day

Litany of Remembrance

It is fitting that in this harvest season, the time of All Saints and All Souls, we gather to offer thanksgiving for the gift of life and to hold in sacred remembrance those who once lived and walked among us, the dead who are not dead, who live evermore in the undying memory of the heart.

 I hold before you our chalice, which represents the unity of our shared fellowship and seeks to hold the spirit of our religious principles of love, justice, compassion, and the search for truth.  This morning let this chalice be for us a symbol of the Cup of Life in which the living and the dead are held in sacred remembrance.

 This chalice which is given to us becomes ours to give to others in generations yet to come, that they, like we, may receive the cup of life, anointed and running over with goodness and mercy.

 Let us now pass the chalice among us, each  holding it for a moment in our hands as a symbolic gesture of communion with those who have gone before and have joined their lives with ours in freedom of faith and conscience.

  (HAND TO PETER)

 As the cup is passed let us share in litany the names of those whose lives are one with ours in memory and hope and the heritage of the spirit.  Tricia and I will conclude each line of the litany with the invitation, “join our circle of faith”, As we do so we ask that you please respond,

  “STAND HERE BESIDE US.”

 Today we speak here the names of those from among us – members, friends and relatives – who have died in the past year and have received the ministry of this church:

join our circle of faith,  

STAND HERE BESIDE US

 We call to mind the names of those who gathered a church in Middleboro in 1889 because they wanted more freedom in their faith and worship: Jesse B. Ryder, Eugene LeBaron, Joseph Dixon, Annie Brown, Elizabeth Ryder, Bradford Burgess, and others, including the first minister of this church, the Reverend William H. Ramsay, join our circle of faith,

 STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 We call to mind the names of those who had the vision to build such a lovely and enduring sanctuary dedicated in 1891:  Enoch Pratt, our benefactor, who purchased the Pearl Street lot; William Peirce, who donated the bell; Mrs. Luella Taylor Howard, our first organist, join our circle of faith, 

  STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 We remember the names of former ministers who have ministered and spoken within these walls: William Litchfield, Forest Tucker, Frederick Brown, George McIlwain, Clara Cook Helvie, Arthur Littlefield and other leaders determined to fight intolerance and bigotry and provide a liberal religious faith, join our circle of faith:

 STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 We speak the names of those in living memory who have left their imprint upon the gathered life of this church and the legacy of its meeting house and properties:  Granville Tillson, David Pratt, William Soule, Myron Hinchley, Elizabeth Southwick, Henry Burkland, Bessie Bailey, Elsie Gaudette and countless others past naming but not forgotten, join our circle of faith:

 STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 Michael Servetus, Francis David, John Murray, Joseph Priestly, Olympia Brown, Susan B. Anthony, Dorthea Dix, Clara Barton, Channing, Emerson and Parker, and other Unitarian Universalist leaders of bygone eras who bequeathed to us a heritage of faith and freedom, reason and tolerance, compassion and service, join our circle of faith:

 STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 Jesus the Christ of Love, Socrates the Seeker of Truth, Buddha Lord of Compassion, apostles of peace and nonviolence, Gandhi the Mahatma, Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa and religious reformers and prophets of every age and tradition, join our circle of faith:

 STAND HERE BESIDE US.

 Let us now remember the names of those near to us and dear who once graced our lives with their love and their presence and who yet live within us in the enduring memory of the heart.  In silence or in speech let each of us remember the dead who are not dead so long as memory endures and the Cup of Life is passed from generation to generation....Those who feel so moved may speak the names of those they wish to remember

 Minister:   To all who have died and affect our lives in ways past knowing or remembering, all who live and touch our lives in ways beyond showing or declaring, we express our gratitude.........

 Benediction: 

“Let the horizon of our minds include all people:  the great family here on earth with us;  those who have gone before and left to us the heritage of their memory and of their work;  and those whose lives will be shaped by what we do or leave undone.”

 Go in peace.