For When the Saints [Look. Listen. Pray. Do.]
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)
| look |
Cloud of Witnesses, unknown artist (source)
| listen |
For When the Saints by Sara Groves
Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
It often overwhelms me
But when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
Their courage compels me
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
| pray |
Pray alone or with others today:
I looked, and there was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God
who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
We praise you, O God, for all your saints in heaven.
How grateful we are of the life and witness of . . .
[A list of names may be read.]
We also praise you for all those whose names are held in your loving memory,
the vast company of voices who acclaim you as Lord.
We are grateful for this vast company of witnesses.
Strengthen us as we follow their lead.
Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus,
forerunner in faith, Lord of all.
Strengthen us in the hope that we with them
will taste and see your goodness in the land of the living.
By your Spirit, teach us even now
to sing the song of heaven:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb. Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
—based on 1 Corinthians 2:9; Hebrews 12:1-2; Revelation 7:9-12, Worship Sourcebook Edition Two
| do |
Read Malcolm Guite’s sonnet: All Saints.
Listen to the song Victoria E. Jones included in her post for All Saints: “Sky World” written in Mohawk and English by Theresa Bear Fox of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation
Read Andy Whitman’s essay about the saints he remembers and spend some time recalling your own. Share stories with a friend.
Here are a few saints I’ve remembered over the years on the blog:
Remembering Margaret’s mom
Our friend Trey who died on All Saints Day five years ago.
Our dear friend Dick Chote.
Brian’s beloved grandfather, Lester G. Morgan (1911 - 2009)
The woman who literally changed the course for generations of my family, May Stage Gregory