Today is “All Saints Day.” It is an ancient holiday dating back to around the year 610. It is the day when the church celebrates all those who have come before us in the faith.

In 2 Timothy, Paul writes to his young friend and colleague:  “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Think about all the generations that have passed between the time of Timothy’s grandmother and us today. Nearly two thousand years of one generation handing down their faith to the next. Imagine all the people’s lives over the centuries who were touched, challenged, and inspired by the gospel.

Today, I invite you to reflect on the person or people who handed down their faith to you. Was it a parent or grandparent? A Sunday school teacher or friend? Begin to imagine who it was that might have passed on their faith to them. Give thanks to God for each of them. Then, think about those who will come after you. Who is looking to you, even now, to share your hope?

Let us pray; Today we remember that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. We remember and give thanks for all your children – those who answered when you called, those who walked with you, who served, who loved, who proclaimed your good news with their words, their deeds, and their very lives. We give you thanks that having lived this life in faith, they now rest eternally with you.

As we celebrate the faithful, may we be sustained by the promise of the resurrection and the promise that while now we see in a mirror dimly, one day we will see face to face, with all the saints of every time and place, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

So just a few months ago, I drove my daughter Emily over to Tallahassee and dropped her off to start her freshman year at Florida State. It was hard. It’s already an emotional time, but as we were getting her settled, we realized that she did not pick up her student ID card at orientation. This is the card that allows you not only to access the dorms but also to eat in the dining hall. It was Friday evening and we learned the business office would not be reopened until Monday at 8 am. So Emily, with all the emotions flowing, was just in tears. And I launch in with, “What if you tried this? What if you did that? Do you want me to call? Why don’t you call…?”

She looked at me, and said very kindly, “Stop. Dad, you are always the fixer. I don’t need a fixer. I need a dad…I just need someone to be here with me.”

I should know better. But I do have a tendency to want to fix things, to try to sort things out, to make things right. But the truth is, sometimes, if we rush in to try and fix things, we might actually make things worse.

I wonder if there are areas in your life in which you need to trust that God is already at work.

I certainly struggle with this. Next time, I wonder if, instead of rushing in to fix, to save, to prod, to pull, to cajole, I could simply first listen, show my love and support, and then trust.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, help me ever remember, you are the Savior, not me. Help me know when to act, when to listen, and when to simply trust. Today, I hand you again my worries, anxieties, and burdens. I leave in your hands my children and others who are on my heart. Grant us your peace. Amen.

I remember hearing about two different visitors to a particular church on the same Sunday. Both had a similar experience. No one spoke to either one of them, and both left with the feeling that it was an unfriendly congregation. The first visitor decided that he would go back one more time, but resolved that if no one talked to him next time, he’d never go again. The other man decided that he too would go back, and if no one spoke to him, he’d make an effort to find someone to talk to.

On that next Sunday, the two men returned to the church as visitors. And, it just so happened that they sat next to each other. Since once again no one was speaking to either of them, the man who had resolved to find someone to talk to, turned and spoke to the man who had sworn he would not return unless someone engaged him. Wouldn’t you know it, the two men hit it off immediately and they became fast friends. They both ended up joining the church and over the years took on leadership roles. And both worked hard to make sure everyone felt welcome – especially visitors.

This story just reminds me that we never know what effect even our smallest actions might have on others. Our lives, whether we realize it or not, have a ripple effect. Although we don’t always see the results, our kindness, generosity, and compassion, all have a way of impacting this world for the better.

Let us pray: Loving God, may we be more like the man who resolved to take the first step. May we see all around us, opportunities for making this world a little better place. Give us a quick smile, a kind word, a generous heart, and open arms. And then, help us to trust that our efforts are in your hands. May your peace rest on us, and work through us. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

You may remember that in 1953 Edmund Hillary was the very first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. What you may not know is that he had a partner in his success. His name was Tenzing Norgay. Not only did Tenzing climb the mountain with him but on the way back down the mountain, Hillary fell and was almost lost. In fact, he would have been lost except that Tenzing Norgay pulled him back up the cable and saved his life. Edmund Hillary lived to tell a great story only because of this help from an unknown man. Much later, someone asked Norgay why he didn’t make more of it, why he didn’t boast about his role in this great feat. Norgay said, “We mountain climbers help each other.”

I admire the humility and the servant-like quality of the man.

As the pastor of a church, I see this same attitude in the people whom I serve all the time. There are women and men who regularly work hard behind the scenes to help others: leading Bible studies for children, singing in a choir, cleaning up the property of the church, feeding the hungry in their neighborhoods, and building houses for the working poor. These are my heroes. They put in countless hours, get very little or no credit, and they do it simply because “We Christians help others. That’s who we are.”

Let us pray: God of Hope, I thank you for my real-life heroes; for all those who give deeply of themselves not for power or glory or honor – but simply because they love you. Grant each of us today a Christ-like attitude. We pray in his name. Amen.

I’ve often reflected on those places in my life where I tend to notice God’s presence more, where I feel closest to God. I’ve shared with you many times that for me, it is often out on the ocean, the vastness, the great expanse of it all. In kind of a similar way, I have felt that presence while way up in the mountains looking out over the breathtaking beauty of creation from a high vantage point. And many times in worship, especially through music, I’ve sensed the Spirit stirring in my soul…

However, I can tell you that I don’t often expect God to show up in the midst of my everyday life: washing dishes, sitting in meetings, driving in traffic. And I do have to wonder whether our expectations limit our ability to see and experience the holy and sacred infused in the everyday.

There is this great book called Practicing the Presence of God, by a monk named Brother Lawrence. He writes about cultivating an expectation and an awareness of God’s presence, even within very simple things like while washing dishes or sitting in silence with the other brothers over dinner.

In a like manner, Barbara Brown Taylor talks about the experience of hanging laundry and seeing the laundry on the line as “prayer flags,” and feeding her animals, noticing a deep sense of gratitude. Simply becoming aware of the holy infused in the everyday.

Brother Lawrence’s claim is that this kind of expectation and awareness, this openness and disposition, will ultimately bring us into the presence of something greater than ourselves. And in those moments we experience a sense of wholeness.

What is it that keeps our lives so fragmented? What is it that might keep us from experiencing the spiritual wholeness for which we yearn? What is it that blocks our ability to notice God’s presence in the midst of our everyday lives?

Albert Einstein famously said, “The way I see it you have two ways to live your life: the one as if no miracles exist, and the other as though everything is a miracle.”

All of this raises the question: What is my disposition toward life? What am I expecting? What am I open to? What about you?

Let us pray: Holy God, Even in the midst of life’s fissures and fragmentation, we sense there is an underlying connection, a wholeness. We sense an underlying oneness and your presence binding us together. Give us open eyes, open hearts, open hands that we might notice You, woven into all that has being. May we receive this life and all your gifts as sheer blessing. Amen.