Revelation 21:1-4 "All-Saints' Remembrances"

Revelation 21:1-4


Robert Benson is an author who writes books that explore the question of just how the holy or sacred is found in the ordinary, every day part of our lives. Here is what he said about saints in a book entitled Between the Dreaming and the Coming True:

"All of the places of our lives are sanctuaries; some of them just happen to have steeples. And all of the people in our lives are saints; it is just that some of them have day jobs and most will never have feast days named for them."

And so it is for the saints we have known and whom we honor during these All-Saints’ Remembrances today. These are the people in our families and in our congregation who passed away during the last year. They are men and women. They are old and young. They are the ones who really did not take us by surprise when they left this earth for whatever it is that comes next. They are the ones whose death shocked us to the very core. They are the ones we loved, and we still feel lost without them. They are the ones whose memories we will always hold dear and whose legacy has been passed on to us. The best of who they were will live on in us – in our courage, our conscience, our caring for one another.

KENNETH A. BERRY – Catharine’s husband of 51 years. He sat right back there and also faithfully prepared the Weathervane for mailing each month – even after he became ill. Ken was an extraordinary carpenter and craftsman who could spot a roof or a kitchen counter that was not square a mile away. He built the home he and Catharine shared. Frugal - always looking for a bargain – and most of the time finding ones he could not resist. Hard working, kind, and generous. A soft-spoken and gentle man. He loved his gardens and “The Three Stooges. He adored his grandchildren. He never officially joined this church, but, oh, he was a faith filled man. The day before he died, I was talking with him at home. His eyes were closed, and I whispered to him, “Ken, everything is going to be OK, you know.” He opened those eyes wide and looked directly at me. “Oh, yes, Nancy, I know that,” he replied emphatically.

MABEL FRANCES CROCKETT – Mabel used a walker up until two days before she died. That is no mean feat when you live to be 105 years old. With her husband, she owned and operated Migis Lodge for 24 years. Born in Nova Scotia, she came to the US when she was 17 to go to secretarial school in Boston, where she graduated first in her class. Independent, resilient, and feisty.

A wry sense of humor and a never ending smile. Always busy – never walking but rather “trotting.” A lover of horses, an active supporter of the Raymond Library, and a member of the Raymond Semicircle, a women’s group loosely affiliated with our church. Hardworking, honest, and straightforward. Mabel followed her own path –driving until she was 89, living in her own home until she was 90, and winning a pool tournament in her retirement community when she was 96.

HELENA THORNTON MAKER DICKINSON – mother of Nancy Yates. Loving, kind, generous, and selfless. Tireless with unending energy for her family. Frugal – oh, could she ever stretch the few resources she had – able to make so much out of so little. But then, how could she not have had all of those traits in spades? After all, she raised ten children – beginning at age 18 with Nancy – and for many of those years, with no one to ease the burden!? An excellent cook – she did not fall back on all the easy TV dinners and processed food. As Nancy told me, “The taste of her homemade bread and beans, potato salad and johnny cake will live on in our memories.” Helena made the holidays special with memorable feasts – good food and good family. Again, as Nancy said, “Of all the many oft-remembered treats, we will especially miss her cherry walnut cake, for which, regrettably, we have no recipe.”

HOWARD M. DODGE – brother of Bernie Dodge. Retired from the Air Force. Also served in the Army Reserve. Worked in a bank and as a taxi driver before he found his niche serving customers in the U.S. Postal Service for 30 years. Howard was devoted to his wife and his family. Known for his boundless love and generosity. A devoted member of St. Boniface Parish in Cold Spring, Minnesota, a church and community volunteer through the Catholic Order of Foresters, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Aid Association, and the American Legion. Bernie wrote this about his brother: “My strongest memory or admiration of Howard was the fact that he rose from a childhood of no positive fatherly influence or training to become a loving father, sometimes working three jobs at a time and with his wife Darlene raised seven successful children.”

JENNILEE LAMBERT – Dan Lambert’s daughter by birth, but Lori will always consider Jenni to be her daughter as well. Jenni would have been 29 this month but lost a battle with an illness she did not even know she had. Jenni was energetic, courageous, and a marvelous lover of life. She was a beautiful young woman inside and out. Lori described her as a person with “a kind soul and a caring heart.”

The ways of God are mysterious, and Jenni left this earth with so many questions unanswered – why her? Why now? We can only pray that because she is at peace, we too can find peace in knowing that for now, there are no satisfying answers. Jenni was the middle child between two brothers, but for Lori’s and Dan’s daughter, Kaleigh, Jenni epitomized what it meant to be the “big sister.” Leader, listener, confidante, and the one who made things happen, Jenni shined in that role like the sun. As Lori said, “We miss her devilish grin and unique sense of humor, which would sometimes have her saying things like ‘I come with my own background music; can you hear it?’”

WILLIAM H. PARKER – husband of Ginny Parker for just over 64 years. Always ready with a smile. Caring, gentle, kind, and a wonderful community volunteer. Bill was a man who loved working with his hands, and so he enjoyed his time as an electrician, building inspector, volunteer firefighter, and even a voting machine mechanic. Loved boating, loved summering at his family cottage in Rhode Island, loved retiring to Raymond where he became a stalwart and much admired volunteer for the Fire Department here in town. He particularly enjoyed those times when he was head of the Fire Patrol, and a lot of those Fire Lane signs around here were kept accurate by Bill. Bill loved Tara, that little dog of his, and disliked vegetables. Diane said of Bill, “As long as Bill could stand-up, he showed up to help!” He was always ready to lend a hand,

Ken, Mabel, Helena, Howard, Jenni, Bill – They have left us with a lot, you know. They have given us rich memories that will never be taken away. They have presented us with a legacy of faithfulness, independence, selfless love for family, strong work ethic, unique background music, and devotion to community. May we take up that legacy and carry those qualities - not only in our hearts but also in the way we choose to live our own lives. After all, in the end, our saints live on in us.

But what about them? What is in this for them? Well, we as Christians trust that they now rest in the arms of God, in the eternal love and peace of the Holy One. It is all a mystery we can not understand but can only trust. It is like this story that I know some of you have heard entitled, “The Dragonfly.” It is a children’s story: that is true. However, sometimes we can see the mysteries of life more clearly through a child’s eyes.

Once, in a pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to them when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one of the little water beetles felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever but would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And as he soared, he saw the beauty of a whole new world, so different but so much better than anything he had eve known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now that he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them and explain to them that he was actually more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

However, his new body would not go down into the water, and so he could not get back to tell his friends the good news. But he also knew that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew, a time when they would all be together again. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!

May it be so for our saints! Fly Saints, Fly!

Rev. Nancy Foran is pastor of the Raymond Village Community Church, Raymond, Maine
www.rvccme.org