For All the Saints

Happy All Saints' Day!

This is one of my favorite days of the year, because it brings the reminder that we all are called to holiness--and have the opportunity (and challenge) of being Christ to all those with whom we interact each day. Yep, that colleague who monopolizes your weekly team meeting with stories that were funny the first time, but not the 100th. Yep, that friend who is never on time for anything. Yep, that family member who always forgets your birthday. We can offer grace to each of them--and recognize Christ in them.

I have a lot of go-to saints--Maria Goretti and Josephine Bakhita when I need to forgive people, Faustina when I struggle with obedience, for example. Right now, I'm turning to Hildegard of Bingen, who lived to be eighty-one and who was a renaissance woman way before the Renaissance (she died in 1179). She was an abbess, a composer, a playwright, philosopher, and botanical expert. I love listening to her chants, and will be revisiting a collection of her writings this month in preparation for my post-retirement journey.

Verses in Times of Loss: Your Turn

I asked you last month for verses that comfort you in times of loss. Here's a sampling of what you had to say:

• "Jeremiah 29:11: 'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' There are others, but I always seem to come back to this one. It is the reminder that the Lord does have plans for me (even if I'm unaware!) and that I should have hope in that."
• "Ecclesiastes 3:4: 'There is a time for mourning, a time for dancing.' Because as I heal from my loss, I feel more times for dancing than mourning. There's a need for both, but praise God that my heart is feeling lighter."
• "Psalm 46:10: 'Be still and know that I am God.' This has become a rather trite go-to, but for me, not so much as I used it as the jumping off point for a recent Ultreya witness. Still (rapha) according to the Hebrew word does not mean quiet. It means surrender. Another definition that rang true for me was, stop fighting. I see myself having fought all my life against this and that, believing that if I gave in, I would disappear, be annihilated. I fought for years against a long and brutal debilitating clinical depression. One day I just surrendered. If this was going to be my life, then so be it. I stopped fighting against depression. With the surrender did come silence, but it was also the beginning of the ascent out of depression. It took years, but here I am, depression free for 10+ years now."
• "Isaiah 41:10 gives me comfort during sad times and good times: 'Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strenghthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.' In God's hands, how can we go wrong?"

I so appreciate your replies; I'm using them right now as my only remaining uncle died yesterday.

Until about five years ago, I had stick-straight hair, one of the many things I disliked about myself. Then, boom, it started getting grayer (this is all natural; I've never colored)--and bigger. I had a professional photoshoot a couple weeks ago, and share this untouched one just for fun. (The photographer promises the flyaways will magically disappear.) And guess what? I'm finally learning to see myself as God sees me, a woman who tries to be open to grace and joy and love instead of nitpicking herself and others.

Twenty-nine days to retirement from the day job for me! Here's hoping the month flies by for all of us, and that we give true thanks for everything we have, starting with faith.

Blessings, Melanie