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A few thoughts for All Saints Day...


All
That great crowd of witnesses
Cheering us on to the final whistle
From the heavenly bleachers.
Not just the sanctified celebrities 
But our unremembered, unrecognised
Unhaloed predecessors 
Who filled pews and cleaned loos
Lived their faith unfussily
Passing it on by word and deed
Not words proclaimed from pulpits
But the quiet kind word 
In the right place at the right time
Not spectacular miraculous deeds
But simple acts of grace
far from the spotlight's glare.
Let's celebrate the uncelebrated.

All
Not just the long departed
Removed from this messy arena
Encouraging us to come join them;
Not just those gloriously shining 
But our fellow feeble strugglers.
Those we recognise 
As brothers and sisters
Because we think and speak
With the same theological accent;
Because we sing and dance (or not)
To the same spiritual tune,
But also estranged siblings 
Living under different roofs
Singing strange songs 
And eating suspicious food.
But no less sanctified than us.

All saints.

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