Dear friends,
Today is All Saints' Day. For many of us, it's a time to look back on not just the saints of history and the Bible, but also the people in our own stories who led us to where we are in our faith. Perhaps it was a parent you've known all your life, or perhaps it was a passerby you only met for a moment. Perhaps a friend, a coworker, or even someone you never met-- the writer of a book or a song. None of these people were perfect, but in the moments that they led you closer to God and the love of Christ, in those moments they were saints.
And if you find yourself thinking of times when you felt the presence of God without the help of anyone else, times when you watched the leaves blowing or looked with love on a stranger, then I have a word for you: Saint. You may not be perfect, either, but in those moments, through those moments, you are claimed by God. The apostle Paul recognizes this, addressing his letters "to the saints" in Rome, in Corinth, in Phillipi... and, I believe, in Christiansburg.
Today we remember how we came to where we are... and we also remember that we are claimed, held, loved. As my grandmother used to say, we "remember who we are and whose we are." It's good to take a day just for that.
God's love be with us all,
Andrew