Dear Friends,

This week the church calendar included the ancient Feasts of All Saint’s and All Souls, a time of remembering those who have gone before.  These days have roots in an ancient Celtic festival, during which it was believed that the veil between worlds became permeable. The Celtic people have described such a time or space as a thin place: a space where past and present and future mingle, and heaven and earth meet. 

The tradition at St. John’s has been to celebrate the Feast of All Saints on the Sunday following the actual feasts, which generally occur during the middle of the week.  It has also been our custom to celebrate baptisms, bishop’s confirmations, and the stewardship of our congregation on this day.  As we approach All Saint’s Sunday this year, I am particularly tuned in to the “thin place” that we enter every time we walk the path that leads to the doors of our beloved church.  Perhaps this is because we have focused on the rich history of our congregation during Sunday Forum this year, and on the centuries of faithful departed who are memorialized in our churchyard.  

More than ever, I am aware that when we gather at St. John’s each week, we gather in place of memory and story. Each time we come to the table for communion, we enter a space that touches all our senses and where we acknowledge not only our own hungering, but the hunger of those who have gone before.  The doorway to the past opens up, and those who once shared our table somehow do so again.

As we reside in this “thin place” during this feast week of All Saint’s, who is lingering close in your memories? What stories come to the surface this week? Where do you find those thin places where past, present, and future intertwine, where the veil between heaven and earth is lifted?

In these days, may a thin place open to you: a space of memory and hope, a realm where dream and possibility meet, a place where those who love you make their presence known and provide sustenance for the way ahead.

In Christ,

Amelie+