Remembering Those Who Have Come Before

Day of the Dead and All Saints Day feel particularly resonant this year.

They are a day to hold sadness, remembering all who died: John Lewis and Sean Connery and my neighbor’s dad.

And it isn’t just people who died this year. Dreams have died. Relationships have died. One of my favorite local, farm-to-table eateries died.

But the day is not (primarily) about mourning. The celebration is about community, about the sacred acknowledgement that we are not alone.

As we remember all of those that have come before, we take a measure of comfort: we are not the first ones to face disease or death or disappointment. Our ancestors lived and loved and failed and triumphed.

In the end, we are writing a story that our grandchildren will one day tell.

And, as we stand on the brink of an election and the darkness of winter and the uncertainty of it all…as we hold our hope with trembling hands, that brings me both challenge and comfort.