Brothers, we ant you to know bout those who have died. We do not want you to be sad as others who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again. So, because of Jesus, God will bring together with Jesus those who have died.
~1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 International Children’s Bible Translation
This past Sunday we celebrated All Saints Day a few days later with our observance of All Saints Sunday. And truthfully, I was surprised how much I needed that Sunday.
You can listen to that sermon here for more of my reflections, but in the midst of my grief and comfort on this day of remembering, I also realized how important moments of quiet are.
Pieces of our worship on Sunday that were already scheduled, our video of remembrance took place during one of our hymns.
In my mind, I thought us singing “Let me be your Servant” was the perfect way to remember those we have lost. It would be a beautiful backdrop to the photos of those we love who have passed away.
And maybe it would have been…if we could both sing from hymnals and look at a screen.
Multi-tasking is not usually part of remembering
I had introduced that we would be singing from the hymnal during the video. But unfortunately I failed to realize that as the video began, many (including myself) were looking down at the hymnal.
This is one of those moments of learning. This is the first time we had done this kind of remembering. And so of course there would be glitches to work out.
I just assumed the glitch would be me having to run up to the computer to make sure the video played. Not the realization that some of our members weren’t given the time or the breath to actually do any remembering.
Ah!
In my realization this week that a time of remembering should at least be part of our worship service on All Saints Sunday, I forgot the most important part of this. The actual space in our worship for quiet, contemplative, remembering.
And how is this like so much of our own lives? We often forget to provide ourselves with space to just listen to the Spirit. Our calendars don’t usually have “quiet time to remember” penciled in. But the quiet space for remembering is so important. Yes music can be playing. Yes there can even be singing. But more than anything, sometimes we just need to empty our hands and let go of what we’re doing so that we can remember.
Because it’s this remembering that allows us to celebrate the love and relationship we shared, and to celebrate the promises we have been given through our Lord and savior, Jesus.
So I invite you to take a moment of quiet for remembering. I’ve posted our All Saints Sunday video below, and the person you lost this year may not be in this video, but know that they are in our prayers, they are in our hearts, and we remember.
