This particular Sunday presents an...
Illustration
This particular Sunday presents an apocalyptic text which often figures into the celebration of All Saints' Day six months earlier.
Who are the saints in any particular congregation, any faith community which might be held up on this day?
There are saints whose names we all recognize: the apostles, the women of the early church, the martyrs. Contemporary saints speak to people through the writings and memories of those such as Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Romero, Mother Theresa.
But what of the quieter saints whose lives have been washed in the blood of the lamb? Those who served lovingly and intensely and without fanfare to relive the sufferings of others surround us.
At Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, Minnesota, the circular worship area is encircled by carved panels containing the names of well-known saints from earliest times. The panels also include more contemporary personages, twentieth century saints, too. Most eloquent is the fact that the last two panels stand empty, inviting each viewer to fill in the names of those who followed the Lamb. Which names would you, your town, your faith community, inscribe there? Would women and men both be represented? Would people of color be represented there?
--Hedahl
Who are the saints in any particular congregation, any faith community which might be held up on this day?
There are saints whose names we all recognize: the apostles, the women of the early church, the martyrs. Contemporary saints speak to people through the writings and memories of those such as Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Romero, Mother Theresa.
But what of the quieter saints whose lives have been washed in the blood of the lamb? Those who served lovingly and intensely and without fanfare to relive the sufferings of others surround us.
At Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, Minnesota, the circular worship area is encircled by carved panels containing the names of well-known saints from earliest times. The panels also include more contemporary personages, twentieth century saints, too. Most eloquent is the fact that the last two panels stand empty, inviting each viewer to fill in the names of those who followed the Lamb. Which names would you, your town, your faith community, inscribe there? Would women and men both be represented? Would people of color be represented there?
--Hedahl
