For All the Souls

[God] turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. – Psalm 107:35 (NRSV) 

Some bright lights have gone out this year. I begin a list of the saints we have lost, and it’s too long to complete. Wendall Berry. Gloria Steinem. David Hockney. Dolly Parton. Danny Simmons. Yayoi Kusama. Rachel Naomi Remen. Tim Currry. Alex Pretti. Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. Annie Dillard. Catherine O’Hara. Dolores Huerta. 

I’m no expert, but as I understand it, to be officially inducted into the pantheon of saints is a pretty rigorous process. Witnesses have to testify that the saint-to-be lived virtuously, and a least a couple of miracles have to be attributed to them. If only I had a vote (I emphatically do not), I would make this process easier by expanding the definition of “miracle.”  

I mean, who knows what miracles the folks on my short and incomplete list have already instigated? Someone was able to express their full, beautiful self after seeing Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show. Someone started a garden on a formerly barren patch of ground after reading a Wendall Berry poem. Someone left an abusive relationship after listening to Dolly Parton’s “Blue Valley Songbird.” Aren’t these miracles, each and every one?  

And what about the millions of people who died last year whose names didn’t warrant a news alert? What miracles of love, life, freedom and joy have they inspired? In worship, I change the words to that beloved hymn and instead sing out “for all the souls who from their labors rest.” Because if they can’t all be saints, at least those bright lights can be honored for the miracle that they are, each and every one. 

Prayer
Holy One, you transform dessert places into springs of water and you transform ordinary lives into miracles. Thank you! Amen.

About the Author
Jennifer Ruth Lynn Garrison is a pastor, writer, spiritual companion and unlikely yoga instructor in the Pacific Northwest. You can find her writing in several books from The Pilgrim Press.