So What’s The Big Deal About All Saints Day? … Hello Hump Day readers. I know Halloween is on the 31st—for me, I’m just not into macabre. Sadly, Halloween just boots out All Saints Day on November 1. Perhaps as I am getting older, I want to be reminded of the generations before me who are now with the Lord. They were my stalwarts in times of trouble and that’s why I like All Saints Day so I can remind myself of them and the faith walk they lived and shared with me.

A favorite for stories and quotes is from Virtuous Abbey, which is on Facebook, X, and other places. Their motto is: “Putting the attitude back in platitude and the pie back in pious! The whole world is our parish.” All done with some fun laughter along with quotes that really help our spiritual lives, our joy and laughter, and mostly brings us out of that ‘religious dirge’ to a joy of living our Christian lives. I am sharing one of their stories that a gentleman wrote that resonated with me about All Saints Day…enjoy.

In 1911, there was a Minister whose five-year-old son, Donald, died from diphtheria while they were living in Moncton, New Brunswick. Two years later, the family, Mac O’Drum, moved away from there to Halifax, Nova Scotia. My first thought was how tragic it was even though it was a very long time ago. I also felt the need to go find little Donald’s grave since I’m at that cemetery a lot. I didn’t want him lost-to-time, and it was something I could do for his mum and dad even though they passed away generations ago. It felt like little Donald still belonged to the church. It wasn’t as easy or as straightforward as I thought it would be given that the cemetery is a historic one, with many old stones now unreadable. I told the staff there what I was about and they did everything they could to help me. They found the section where Donald’s marker was—just not his grave. But, after some searching, I found it. It was a flat stone covered in grass, dirt and leaves. I cleaned the stone and sat beside it on a sunny fall day. He died at the end of September 1911 and here I was in October of 2024. I read a poem to him and said that I’d visit from time to time.”

How do you and I embrace our generations? Statistics tell us that we are quickly forgotten! No doubt that there will come a time when no one will say our name again-that hurts. Baptist minister, Gordon Atkinson—who has a blog-site called ‘Real Live Preacher’ (it’s interesting) talked about the Seven Sisters constellation—which is one of my favorites. In the dark skies, they are the first ones I seek out. BUT—guess what, apparently one sister is not in the constellation anymore. Thankfully, the astronomers who take care of constellation names, and other astronomy stuff, said “the name will stay as The Seven Sisters.” A few new astronomers said it should be the Pleiades, but they were voted out. Yeah—that’s a good thing. Heaven knows that in the universe, that lost sister is probably floating around trying to get back to her other sisters!

When I grew up our church used All Saints’ Day as a time to remember those who had died in the past year (or more). It’s a time to look back on our losses and mourn those who are no longer with us. It isn’t a day to pray to saints—it’s a day to pray to God. As the Apostle Paul said: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Biblically, the saints are you and me, and those who have passed on before us who are now alive with Christ! So it is a day of solemn thoughts and memories, and yet a day to rejoice as well.

So, how does it feel to be forgotten? No doubt we all can share some stories on that. Often when we share the stories, we also find some joy and laughter from bygone days. Yet, for many, being forgotten also hurts. How often do you think our precious Savior cries when his children forget him?

How would you feel if your name was forgotten; if your legacy made no difference? Do what the gentleman in the story said about the Mac O’Drum family: “You have not been forgotten, Donald Mac O’Drum, and your family is glad of that.” Here’s a closing question from Virtuous Abbey: “Given that All Saints Day is coming soon, whose name would you like to say out loud here at the Abbey so that they aren’t forgotten, either? Go ahead, say it out-loud, and rejoice in the saints gone before us who are waiting for Jesus to bring us home so we can be with them in heaven!” AMEN.