This
\nyear I’ve spent some time wondering what the saints who have gone on
\nbefore me would think of this year. \u00a0In some cases I know the
\nanswers. \u00a0My \u201cNana,\u201d my paternal grandmother, would have been
\nHORRIFIED by it all. \u00a0She was always scared of getting sick, and she
\nwas a major extrovert and isolation would have been her personal
\nhell. \u00a0My maternal grandmother, who I called \u201cGrandmom\u201d would
\nhave been soooo worried about essential workers and those who are
\nstruggling without enough resources. \u00a0I fear my grandfathers, both
\nveterans, would be horrified by the way the USA failed to lead during
\nthis pandemic.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Especially
\nin the spring, when we knew even less, and isolation was new, the
\nechoes of my grandparents lives felt close at hand. \u00a0Perhaps it was
\nthe isolation itself that helped, they felt as close as anyone else
\ncould get, and memories were extra important.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Paul,
\nin 1 Thessalonians says, \u201cYou remember our labor and toil, brothers
\nand sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any
\nof you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are
\nwitnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct
\nwas toward you believers.\u201d \u00a0The toil was literally labor for money
\nso he didn’t have to ask others for support. \u00a0However, the standard
\nof \u201cpure, upright, and blameless\u201d still feels really high. \u00a0I
\nloved my grandparents and I loved many of the saints we celebrate
\ntoday, but none were PERFECT.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
I
\nsort of like the insults leveled in Matthew, \u201cthe scribes and the
\nPharisees sit on Moses’ seat;
therefore, do whatever they teach
\nyou and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice
\nwhat they teach.\u201d \u00a0So their actions were bad, but their teachings
\nwere good? \u00a0While the intention was to undercut them, I feel like
\nthat is a far more do-able standard!<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
However,
\nit really was pointing out the hypocrisy in \u201cJewish leadership\u201d
\nin Jesus’ day, so I guess I don’t get to drop the bar.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Despite
\nhow it sounds in Paul, I don’t think that we’re called to be perfect.
\n Even John Wesley, well known in Christian circles for believing that
\npeople could reach perfection DURING THEIR LIFE-TIMES, defined
\nperfection as speaking and acting out of God’s love for everyone \u2013
\nbut acknowledged that one could ERR in how one expressed that love
\nand still be perfect.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Most
\nof us still don’t meet that standard.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Nor
\ndo our saints. \u00a0I knew many of them and loved them and was inspired
\nby them, but neither love nor inspiration required perfection.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
I
\ndo think that love and inspiration do best when they meet with
\nauthenticity. \u00a0I\u201dm always struck by the in-congruence between the
\nhuman desire to \u201cfit in\u201d and the fact that when I meet with loved
\nones to prepare a \u201ccelebration of life\u201d that what the people love
\nand miss are the things that made the person UNIQUE. \u00a0It is the ways
\nthat we don’t fit into the norm that people love about us. \u00a0(Although
\nhumility can be nice too, as Paul AND Jesus point out.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
As
\nwe come into this week of even higher anxiety and deeper unknowing, I
\nhope those saints who have been walking with us all year can help us
\nagain. \u00a0They have been through unknowing, and come out the other
\nside. \u00a0They have walked with us in love throughout our lives and
\ntheir love stays with us today. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Whatever
\ncomes next, God is with us. \u00a0And those people who have been
\nexpressions of God’s love in our lives remain sources of our
\nstrength. \u00a0It has been a very hard year, and it isn’t over yet, but
\nwe DO NOT WALK ALONE. \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"