For All the Saints

All Saints Day is November 1st.  It is a day to remember those who have departed the world before us and are in Christ's presence forever.  

My favorite departed saint to remember is my maternal grandmother, whose photos you will find scattered throughout.  In Lutheran thinking (following how the Bible uses the term), all Christians are "saints" because Christ has made us holy by saving us. We don't live it out perfectly (sadly, we often don't live it out well at all), but Christ is the Perfect One, the Holy One who makes us that way in God's eyes. 

For all the saints 

Who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith 

Before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, 

Be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, 

Their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain 

In the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, 

Their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, 

Fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, 

They in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, 

For all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But then there breaks 

A still more glorious day:
The saints triumphant 

Rise in bright array;
The King of Glory 

Passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, 

From ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl 

Streams in the countless host,
in praise of Father, 

Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, Alleluia!  --William Walsham How, 1864

W.W. How was born in 1823 in England and died in 1897 in Ireland.  He was an Anglican priest who rose to be a bishop.