November 2, 2020 – All Souls Day
We just celebrated Halloween, All Saints Day, and Dia de los Muertos or All Souls Day. These holidays are marked by remembering our ancestors and all the saints who have gone on ahead of us. We also fell back an hour (due to the end daylight savings time) and entered the darkest part of our year. Of course, 2020 has been rather ominous for more than seven months. Collectively, we’ve had quite a time of it as we’ve witnessed ‘life as we know it’ cease to exist.
A world-wide Covid-19 pandemic, along with the resulting disruptions to nearly every aspect of our lives. Millions of deaths from this virus that none of us knew about less than a year ago. Unthinkable numbers of jobs lost, unemployment and financial despair. Racial injustices that reached a breaking point and sparked thousands of protests across the US and the world. And here we are now, a tragically divided American country facing a very critical national election tomorrow. Many of us are perpetually living at home in our pajamas, with angst and fear as constant companions.
One of my dearest friends used to wear a gold pendant around her neck with the following inscription: Fear is the Absence of Faith. When fear reared its frightful head in her mind, her necklace served as a reminder that faith conquers fear. Always. We might need a regular reminder and a few good friends standing by our sides, but faith, along with its companion love, unfailingly wins. This 2020 All Souls Day marks more than 10 years without Deea at my earthly side. Thankfully, she still hovers pretty close and whispers ‘have Faith, not Fear’ when I most need to hear it.
The most repeated phrase in the Bible is אל תפחד , which if you don’t read biblical Hebrew[1] means Fear Not. I think there’s a very good reason ‘Fear Not’ is repeated so often. Like maybe because fear runs rampant on this Earth, what with illness, famine, environmental disaster, and heartbreak always at someone’s door, if not at our very own. And so, knowing our human frailties, God and Jesus, along with angels and archangels tell us ‘Fear Not’ over and over and over in scripture.
In an effort to help stamp this important message on our hearts, where Love reigns supreme, I am taking this perfect opportunity to call Heart Full Souls together at the launch of www.heartfullsouls.com. It takes friends (as well as family, villages, towns, cities, organizations, companies, churches, civic groups, and … well, you get the idea) to hold onto our deepest selves in these trying times. Whether you come here full of chutzpah or utterly depleted, may this be a home (albeit a virtual one) for your soul … today and in the weeks, months and years to come!
Love,
Lisa
[1] Lucky for you, this Presbyterian clergywoman had to learn it in seminary