Well, we got the snow the weatherman had promised. Not much; just a dusting that didn't really stick, a calling card from Old Man Winter reminding us that he is on his way. Snow means Linda is ready for Christmas carols and decorations, less than a day out of Halloween, which is the real reason for writing today. It would be funny if it weren't so sad how our culture has embraced the macabre. Kids and even grownups go around all decked out in ghoulish costumes; time gets set aside in school for Halloween parties, but we can't observe Christmas without violating the "separation of church and state." It goes unnoticed that Halloween is actually a religious holy day for Druids and others who honor the darkness. I'm not complaining; I enjoy the little kids who come around Trick or Treating. We used to get upwards of 200 marching up our sidewalk when we lived on Cassadaga's main street. Now it's just the grandchildren and a few close friends from church. We had hot cider, cookies and snacks for everyone. Last night, Linda even baked a pumpkin pie which was served with real whipped cream! The kids ran around like banshees while we talked and laughed.
What gets overlooked in all this is today; All Saint's Day, where Christians honor those who have died in the past year, and even years before. It is a time of remembrance and gratitude for the example of faith that has been handed down through the generations. Instead of a celebration of death, ours is a celebration of Life. So today, I am thankful for the Apostles who wrote the New Testament, handing on to us the stories that enable us to trust in Christ, and the guidelines we still follow as we try to faithfully live out the Gospel. I am grateful for the Church Fathers whom most Christians have never even heard of, men like Ignatius, Athanasius, Clement, Eusebius, and Augustine.
I am thankful for the monastics and mystics like Bernard, Julius, Theresa, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis, who called the Church back to her roots. I am grateful for the Reformers like Luther, Calvin, Knox, and Hus, who stood firm for the purity of the faith in the face of fierce opposition from the institutional church. I am thankful for those who labored to make sure we could read the Bible in our own language, men like Wycliffe, Latimer, Ridley, Tyndale, Coverdale, and Lancelot Andrewes. I am thankful for John Bunyan, who gave us Pilgrim's Progress, for John Newton who gave us "Amazing Grace," for Whitefield and Wesley, Asbury and Coke, the early giants of our Methodist tradition, and for Susannah Wesley who gave birth and nurture to John and Charles. I am grateful for William Carey, who in the 18th century awakened the Christian world to international missions.
I am thankful for the people in my own life who brought me to faith and nurtured me as a young Christian; for my parents who insisted we attend church, Sunday School, and youth group. For the leaders at the old Westside Baptist Church who taught and lived out genuine Christian faith, people like Ozzie Palmer, Chuck Bassett, Helen Beach, Dorothy Silver, Pastor Ellis, and countless others. I am grateful for Fred Thomas and Sterling Huston who led Youth for Christ when I was a teenager.
I am thankful for my wife who has been the finest example of Christian patience and faithfulness I could ever imagine (after all, she puts up with me), for Bishop Yeakel whose attentiveness to a young seminarian brought me into my present denomination, for all the District Superintendents who resisted all temptation to wring my neck because reports were late (a special thanks for Bob Pascoe, whose ministry to me kept me going when I was at a point where I didn't think I could do the work of a pastor anymore), and to so many colleagues who have challenged me, supported me, and walked together through this often crazy business of pastoral ministry.
The list could go on and on. Heaven is populated with men and women who have labored anonymously and faithfully, each contributing his or her part in the long line of saints whose witness has kept the flame burning brightly. May we who have received their gift, often at great cost and sacrifice, treasure it, handle it carefully, proclaim it boldly, so future generations will rise up and call us blessed.
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