"They praise the Lamb in hymns above, And we in hymns below"

John Calvin (left) and John Wesley (right) at the John Rylands Library, Manchester

It's November 1, the beginning of my least favorite month, partly because the skies tend to become gloomy, the trees (except for the pines) become bare, and the temperature drops.  But mostly, I dislike November because my mother died on November 16, 2010, and that has left a hole in my heart that nothing can fill.  This morning, I felt a bit melancholy as I turned the page of the calendar over, until I remembered something else about November, something that carries joy within it even though it is also tinged with grief.

November 1 is a somewhat neglected holy day among Protestants, though some churches are finally starting to value and celebrate it as All Saints Day.  It is a time set apart to give thanks to God for the gift of the life and love and example of the faithful ones who have preceded us in death. 

As I write this, today is All Saints Day, a time to reflect and remember them, a day to pay special attention to that phrase in the Creed about the "communion of the saints."  John Wesley had a great fondness for this holy day.  He mentioned its importance to him on several different occasions in his journal, calling it "a festival I truly love," and "a day I peculiarly love."

On All Saints Day in 1788, his journal records his thoughts: "I always find this a comfortable day." Comfortable, not like a warm, cozy sweater, but comfortable in the sense of consoling, of encouraging, of soothing and even strengthening.  Mr. Wesley lived to be nearly 88 years old, outliving his parents, his not-so-beloved wife, and all but one sibling, Martha, and she died a few months after him and is buried in the same grave. 

He knew the keen edge of grief, but he also knew the "sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life in Jesus Christ," and trusted that not only those well-known saints but also the ordinary faithful folk are gathered into God's loving presence. In the Holy Spirit, we, too, are part of that communion of saints with those we love but see no more.  As Charles Wesley wrote:

The Church triumphant in his love,
Their mighty joys we know;
They praise the Lamb in hymns above,
And we in hymns below.

So together with John Wesley and John Calvin (both pictured above), with my mother and with those whom you name as saints in your life, let us join the everlasting chorus of praise, rejoicing that, if we also are faithful: "Our spirits too shall quickly join, like theirs with glory crowned!"