Post 44/2024. I’ve no breaking news, no bombshell report, no polls comment, no recap of what I’ve read in various media outlets about the 2024 US election cycle; I have only one word: Harris. That said, I add, I’m taking a break. Tasks to do and we have travel plans where our tablet stays home. A break it is.

This is Post 451 since I started blogging. I’ve taken breaks before. I was glad for the affirmation from a friend for taking another hiatus. He added, “but don’t stop.” I take that advice to heart, Leonard. Thank you.

Greencroft campus

River Preserve County Park

All Saints Day

The choir sang the Prelude, Song of the Saints (Chopin). That and the children’s story, congregational singing, sermon and prayers melded together into a soul-inspiring worship service today at College Mennonite Church’s observation of All Saints Day. We remembered 23 members who died in the past year.

Among the hymns, we sang Nothing Can Separate Us, music by James E. Clemens: “Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:39). Stanza 2 of My Life Flows On, added to the Tapestry of Praise as the sermon was titled:

“Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing. It finds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I’m clinging. Since Love is lord of heav’n and earth, how can I keep from singing?”

The tapestry of prayer and praise connects the living with those who have gone before, noted preacher Phil Waite. He referenced excerpts from Isaiah 56: “I will bring you to my holy mountain, and make you joyful in my house of prayer, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Midway through the sermon we sang, “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. Stanza 1: “Holy God we praise thy name. God of all, we bow before thee. All on earth your scepter claim; all in heav’n above adore thee. Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign.”

Nothing is Lost on the Breath of God, was the song of response. Stanza 1: “Nothing is lost on the breath of God, nothing is lost forever; God’s breath is love, and that love will remain, holding the world forever. No feather too light, no hair too fine, no flower too brief in its glory; no drop in the ocean, no dust in the air, but is counted and told in God’s story.”

Through the worship of God I felt a fresh connection with those whom we remembered and those around me. The Remembrances folder quoted Henri Nouwen in Our Greatest Gift: I can “…embrace with my heart those who have lived and died but continue to inform and inspire me with their actions and words.”

Every good wish for the days and weeks to come.

Peace be with you.

-John