<html><body>Here's Part 2 for Sunday after All Saints<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Yet others – our family members, perhaps – can bring us up short and make us so glad just to hear a word of kindness and encouragement when it would have been so easy to say, “Well, of course you’d never be able to accomplish that? Are you that gullible?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Other human beings – people created in the image of God, bearing God within them, and letting God speak to us and to everyone through the way they look at us – other human beings can help us to listen, to hear God’s voice saying, “It <b><u>IS</u></b> possible to love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <b><u>THIS</u></b> is what saints do, day in and day out. They are reflectors of God and God’s Love. <b><u>THIS</u></b> is what can give us so much courage when we hear the thing we don’t want to hear, even. These are they whom God has called to live in our midst and to live in our memories, so that we won’t give up. And the amazing thing is that they don’t all dress in white and walk around with a shimmering aura around their heads. They wear black, and red, and brown, and yellow. Some have stooped backs, some have weak legs, some have difficulty breathing; some always seem to stand up straight, or to be able to get to our side exactly when we need company. Whether we hear it or see it or not, all seem to glow in that special way that says they know God in their lives, no matter how their own experiences may have challenged them. These are the saints of God and, still living or not, their company is something to be treasured and celebrated.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Of our departed loved ones, John O’Donohue wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presence, they slip out of visible form into invisible presence. This alteration of form is the reason we cannot see the dead. But because we cannot see them does not mean that they are not there. Transfigured into eternal form, the dead cannot reverse the journey and even for one second re-enter their old form to linger with us a while. Though they cannot reappear, they continue to be near us and part of the healing of grief is the refinement of our hearts whereby we come to sense their loving nearness. When we ourselves enter the eternal world and come to see our lives on earth in full view, we may be surprised at the immense assistance and support with which our departed loved ones have accompanied every moment of our lives. In their new, transfigured presence their compassion, understanding and love take on a divine depth, enabling them to become secret angels guiding and sheltering the unfolding of our destiny.” <sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As Donohue pointed out, “No life is without its broken, empty spaces … (but) Beauty is such an attractive and gracious force precisely because it is so close to the fractured side of experience.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I see this as the work of God’s saints, transforming our lives, filling our lives with excitement where we may have thought that nothing could ever make us smile, or make plans, or take risks again. If I listen; if <b><u>ONLY</u></b> I listen; if only I look, I can see God’s saints all around me, perhaps speaking in ways I may not fully understand at the time, yet planting the seeds of Love, of Joy, of Hope, of Peace, reminding me that I, too, am blessed by the Living, Loving God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Hey! Hey! Anybody listening?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Blessed are you, Lord God of the Universe; through your goodness we have the saints to encourage us; and through your goodness you call us to be saints too. <sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">WITH OR WITHOUT THE FOLLOWING POEM:<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Poem for All Saints/Souls<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For Those Who Walked With Us<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br>by Jan Richardson.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);">For Those Who Walked With Us</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);"> « The Painted Prayerbook</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"><a href="http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/">http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For those<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br>who walked with us<br>this is a prayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For those<br>who have gone ahead,<br>this is a blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For those<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br>who touched and tended us,<br>who lingered with us<br>while they lived,<br>this is a thanksgiving.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For those<br>who journey still with us<br>in the shadows of awareness,<br>in the crevices of memory,<br>in the landscape of our dreams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">this is a benediction. <sup>4</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">NOTES:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333px;">[1]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">©Copyright 1967 by Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh ASCAP, from <i>“Hymns Hot and Carols Cool”.</i> All Rights Reserved. </span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> John O’Donohue in <i>“Beauty”</i> HarperCollins, New York, New York. © 2004 see pages 194 ff. Also </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohnODonohue.AnamCara/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);">John O'Donohue</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);"> | Facebook</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohnODonohue.AnamCara/">https://www.facebook.com/JohnODonohue.AnamCara/</a> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Compare, for instance, with </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.godweb.org/prayer/PrayersJewish.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);">Jewish Prayers For All Occasions - GodWeb</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"><a href="http://www.godweb.org/prayer/PrayersJewish.htm">http://www.godweb.org/prayer/PrayersJewish.htm</a> ; </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">number 4 at<span style="color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"> </span><a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/principal-services/holy-communion/supplementaryfront/preptable.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181); text-decoration: none;">Prayers at the Preparation of the Table - The Church of England</span></a> <span style="color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"><a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/principal-services/holy-communion/supplem">https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/principal-services/holy-communion/supplem</a></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><sup><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4</span></sup><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <i>“For Those Who Walked With Us”</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> by Jan Richardson. <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">© Jan L. Richardson. janrichardson.com </span><a href="http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);">For Those Who Walked With Us</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 181);"> « The Painted Prayerbook</span></a> <span style="color: rgb(14, 119, 68);"><a href="http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/">http://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>