Today was “All Saints Day” at church, a time when we remember those believers who have gone on before us. As we sang the familiar hymns from the same hymnal I used as a kid, I thought about the days of my youth at Advent Lutheran in Boca. My dad always sang vigorously…most of the time in tune…while my mom like to nudge me during the more laborious ones and point to the composer, always some unknown pious soul from the 15th century.
We sang “For all the Saints” and the words and tune…plus the sermon about “the cloud of witnesses” watching us…reminded me of a different era at Advent. Sue and I would attend with Kristen, this little 2 yo redhead with her Pebbles Flintstone bun. Mom and Pop’s attention during the sermons dropped dramatically in favor of quietly looking at kid’s books and showering her with little treats and hugs.
So today, 27-yo Kristen attended worship with us and as I looked at her, still seeing vestiges of her 2-yo self, singing the hymns that we and those before us sang, back to the 1400s…I reflected that soon she’ll be married, and she and her husband may have kids. And as the great celestial wheel turns and the seasons of life change, Sue and I will find ourselves paying less attention to the sermon and more to those who will some day be remembering us on All Saints Sunday.
My little corner of the world 