HELLO!

It’s a busy weekend at Woodlawn United Church. For those not aware, OAKWOOD TERRACE PRESENTS A POPPY TRIBUTE CONCERT: Experience live heartfelt performances set against a backdrop of 18000 hand-crafted poppies. Sunday November 1^st two showtimes 2:30 & 7pm. Admission by donation – all proceeds to the Legion. Last year was the first time this annual event was held at Woodlawn United Church, the turnout was so overwhelming we needed to have two events this year!

This Sunday morning at 10 am our theme is All Saints Day. I once heard a helpful metaphor for the saints of the church, “The Balcony.” The preacher told us the human personality is like a house: a complex structure with a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms. And a basement where the plumbing is and we keep the trash. Sometimes we live in the living room, sometimes we’re down in the basement. But if you step out onto the front lawn, you see something you didn’t even know was there: a balcony. And on the balcony are some people. Those balcony people are the good and strong influences in your life. Your parents may be there, perhaps grandparents, teachers, friends, old neighbours, strangers who left you with some lasting wisdom, and people you never met but who influenced you, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk, Moses, Ruth and Naomi, the Apostle Paul, Lydia, and Nelson Mandela. You can look up and see who’s there for you.

Who are the saints on your balcony? Saints are not such because of a particular achievement, nor are they models of perfection. Rather, saints open themselves to God’s way of seeking to work in and through their lives and gifts. We are not invited to copy other saints. Instead, saints encourage us as we seek to let God do this same work in our own lives. We may seem unlikely characters for God to choose and use, but anyone familiar with the Bible knows that’s typical for how God works.

The Bible story most associated with All Saints’ Sunday is the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are a blueprint of action, a plan for behaviour, and a reorientation of life for the followers of Jesus, who are blessed lovers of God. The Beatitudes are a litany of characteristics describing the citizens of heaven—the great cloud of witnesses, saints. All Saints’ Sunday invites us to remember that we never live out our faith entirely alone. We are sustained by those who have gone before and who are with us now, whose lives provide inspiration for us who follow on the path. Peace, Kevin