A Prayer for All Saints Day 2009

 

On All Saints Day we count our losses,

too many of them for most of us: parents and other family,

friends and celebrities we knew more about than friends.

We miss them at odd times, a hint of fragrance open the floodgates

of memory and longings.

 

We are told that we are all saints, in your household. O god.

We are skittish about it, for we think saints are perfect.

No saint was, or is, perfect, but all have something to admire,

a virtue toward which we aspire.

 

It is true that loved ones are in a better place.

We pray that visions of heaven sweeten hard times.

May we find room to hope amidst the rubble of pain.

May we try to bring bits of heaven down to earth every day.

With you O god, it is never over; we are never gone.

 

On All Saints Day we count our blessings.

Lives touch each other, embrace each other.

We seek to recall the good that the departed brought us.

Even if we forget, we know that you do not forget, O Divine Storehouse.

All lives remain connected to you, the Great Connection