Ailey, Baldwin, Floyd, Killens and
Mayfield
Sermon by Marylen Marty-Gentile
All Saints’ Day 2 November 2014
Matthew 5:1-12, Revelation 7:2-4, 7-14
“Ailey, Baldwin, Floyd, Killens and Mayfield” by Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe briefly.
Our eyes briefly see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory,
suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words unsaid,
promised walks never taken.
And when great souls die,
after a period
peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly.
Spaces fill with a kinds of
soothing electric vibration.
Our sense, restored,
never to be the same,
whisper to us.
They existed.
We can be.
Be and be
better.
For they existed.

We listen to the radical words of Jesus.
We listen to the words of John, exiled on the island of Patmos, striving to understand and live in
a world where the innocent die and wicked ones seem to flourish
We listen to the soaring beauty of Faure’s requiem, a work of at that emphasizes peace and rest.
Word.
Music.
Silence.
Prayer.
They existed.
We remember.
On this day in the church we remember those in our lives who have died.
We give thanks to God for their lives.
We acknowledge our grief or anger, guilt or confusion.
And we offer support to those who suffer all of those searing emotions though our presence.
We affirm once more the powerful, steadfast love of God which surrounds us
from the moment God knit us together in our mother’ wombs,
as we move through the valley of the shadow of death,
and live in the light of light everlasting.
All these moments in life and death and life after death are precious in God’s sight.
And we remember with confidence
sometimes boldly,
sometimes tentatively, all evidence to the contrary,
God’s promise
that death is swallowed up
that death does not have the last word
that neither death nor life
nor angels or principalities
nor things present—
our demons, our human frailties, our brokenness, our screwing up time after time—
nor things to come
can separate us from the love of God
we know through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And we do this in community so that even if I don’t feel it,
you will feel it for me and remind me.
Even though you may feel weak and hopeless,
your neighbor next to you can hold and sustain you in your tears.
We celebrate as only the body of Christ celebrates,
in community,
lifting each other in our joys and our grief
breaking the bread of life
and lifting the blessed cup of hope.
We do not always do this perfectly or well,
but we do it as best we can with the help of God,
always with the help of God.
We remember.
We can be better
each of us
as a community
For they existed.
Created by God.
Loved by us.
Loved by God.
We remember.
Thanks be to God for the saints.
The words of Psalm 116 remind us
“Precious in the sight of God is the death of God’s saints.”
Each year in the church we have the opportunity to remember these saints,
in community
and give voice to their presence in our lives.
We’ll begin today by reading the names of the saints of this community.
And now you are invited to come forward,
speak the name of someone in your life who has died
and light a candle to mark the light they shined in your life.
If the name of your saint has already been read, please feel free to come forward and speak it
yourself.
Choirs of angels sing you to your rest.
Light eternal shine on you.
May God—
our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
--in endless mercy
bring the whole church,
the living and departed,
to a joyful resurrection
in the fulfillment of the eternal kingdom