The Day of the Dead is a very happy time, not meant to be scary in the least, and the calaveras capture that—they are funny, lively little depictions, meant to raise a smile, given as gifts of affection. The Day of the Dead involves humor and fun even though the dead are missed. While the Mexicans mourn and miss their loved ones, as all mortals do, they also believe that death is just an extension of life. It’s part of a natural progression, not an end. They believe the dead continue to exist and return annually to visit their loved ones. Many of the customs, such as home altars and cemetery vigils, are to help the deceased find their way and to welcome them home.



The calaveras above sit on a bookshelf in my home office. I like the idea that the world of the living and the world of the dead are not so separate. Moreover, it seems a useful thing, to keep our mortality in mind, and these little figures help me do that.

All that seems very congruent with All Saints and All Souls as we American Episcopalians know them—not that we think our dead come back annually to eat candy with us, but that we DO think their lives go on and that they are aware of us with love and affection. That gathering of those who have gone on before us is what we call “the communion of saints.”

Christianity sees God and the Church as transcending time and mortality. Though we in life are mortal, with a beginning and an end, God is immortal, in a state of being that goes beyond time and space. We believe God takes us into that experience—in fact, that we are part of that experience already. So we speak of the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant.

The Church Militant is US, the Church in time, caught up in the great battle between good and evil—the Church on the front lines, so to speak. The Church Triumphant is the Church BEYOND time, the believers who have already died and been raised to new life.

When we picture the communion of saints, we picture some familiar faces in that multitude—not only the big name saints (whom I think of as the Church’s All-Star line-up) but our own dear ones who have gone on before us. They are in God’s presence in a more direct way, but we believe they are still aware of us, and love us, as we still love them. Love is stronger than death, and doesn’t end just because a body stops breathing.

All Saints is not primarily about death. We LIVE in the communion of saints, sharing the mission of the Church with them, worshipping God with saints not only throughout time but also with believers all over the world, living today. That communion is our family NOW as well as after we leave the body.

I am glad to have All Saints and All Souls to remind me of these things.

Beginning in 2002, and every year since, St. Paul’s has held a community service remembering the attacks of September 11th. This is a joint effort of the congregation, the Lewiston Police Department, Lewiston #1 Fire Company, and the Village of Lewiston. As I have been preparing for this year’s service, I have been visiting related websites, seeing once more the moving and traumatic images of that terrible day, and revisiting my own memories of it.

This time of the year became even more loaded with disastrous intensity in 2005, as we all watched Hurricane Katrina roar into the Gulf and mow down New Orleans and surrounding communities. Work crews from St. Paul’s have helped in rebuilding the Gulf Coast from that disaster, and this year we have been holding our breath as we watch a succession of hurricanes—Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Josephine—coming in like freight trains. You cannot become involved in responding to a disaster without becoming sensitized to disaster in general. It is a tough world out there.

Occasionally, one hears speculation about God’s role in disasters. I remember hearing Katrina pronounced as God’s judgment upon the sinful city of New Orleans by some, and seeing a tape of a victim screaming, “God, why have you done this to us?”

I want to address this as clearly as I can: I do not believe God causes these disasters. Disasters happen, and always have.

Some are man-made disasters—intentional ones, like terrorist attacks, and unintentional ones, for example when human error caused a nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, or an oil tanker leaks and brings devastation to the wildlife.

Some are natural disasters, like hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami, wildfires and tornadoes.

Sometimes there is an element of both nature and human action, for example when people build their homes on a flood plain, or a fault line, and then suffer when the flood or earthquake hits.

There are numerous forces at work that create these disasters but I do not believe God is behind them.

It is understandable that people would wonder about God’s hand in natural disasters, since we understand God to be the creator of the natural order, and since we have miracle stories as part of our scriptures. We think of God parting the Red Sea, and Jesus calming the storm, for example, and it is not such a reach to wonder if God couldn’t divert a hurricane. Thinking about God’s unlimited power and great love for us, it is not such a reach to hope God will intervene and rescue us from disaster. I will join the prayers of any that plead to be rescued, and I feel great gratitude any time a disaster is averted or victims escape. But I cannot go along with the thought that God sends the earthquake, the hurricane.

As we look at the world throughout history, we see clearly that disasters do happen, have always happened, and happen to good, faithful, praying people just as frequently as they happen to unrepentant bad people, and faithless people. If God used disaster to punish the unrepentant, we’d all see that pattern and be a lot more careful about obeying God’s laws and asking forgiveness for our trespasses. If God used disaster to punish faithlessness, we’d see that pattern, and there would be no one bold enough to call himself an atheist. If saying the right prayers or living the right life made one immune to disaster, the pews would be full in every church, everywhere, every time the doors were open. We all want to be safe from disaster.

But there is no such pattern. Disasters are not a divine punishment. They are just part of mortal life.

And the fact is, that’s not to be held against God, as if God has somehow failed us by creating a world in which there are forces beyond our control, forces that can and do hurt us. God has not failed us by making us mortal. God does not owe us a thing. The fact that we have any life at all is a gift, a momentous gift. We can never say we were entitled to it; none of us earned the right to be born.

The forces that made the mountains rise also cause earthquakes—in fact, if we were around at the moment the mountains were pushed forth, we would be in great danger and consider it a disaster. The forces that made the continents and laid bedrock can kill you if you are present when they are in action—earthquakes pushing at tectonic plates and volcanoes spewing lava and ash. The glaciers that made the lakes we love and find beautiful scoured the earth when they moved south, and destroyed everything in their path. The gravity that keeps you from flying off into space will kill you if you step off a cliff.

The forces of nature can kill you, but they are not evil. They work for life as well as against it, and they abide by the laws of nature. God is not evil to have set them in motion. And being in the wrong place at the wrong time doesn’t mean we are evil—just unfortunate.

The question, then, is where is God in the midst of a disaster?

I accept the revelation of God’s nature as good and loving, therefore I see God most clearly in the actions of those who work to rescue those caught in a disaster. I see God most clearly in the actions of those who reach out to help another, even at those times when they themselves are in need. And I am not just talking about the official rescuers, the cops and firefighters, the National Guard—I am talking about anyone who stretches forth a helping hand. I am talking about private citizens who use their boats to try to rescue people trapped by floods on their rooftops, who use their bare hands to dig through the rubble of an earthquake to find survivors, who take in those who are orphaned and share their food with those left destitute. I am talking about us, when we extend ourselves through Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopal Community Services, Camp Coast Care or any such effort. Those who demonstrate mercy and compassion in the midst of chaos are the ones who really point us to God’s presence in the midst of disaster. They become God’s embracing arms, God’s strong hands helping the broken back to their feet.

St. Paul wrote, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers… do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

That is our job description. That’s who we are to try to be in the midst of chaos, what we’re to try to do. And when we actually do that, people will know the love and power of God, even in the midst of disaster.

For more information about Saint Pauls or to speak with The Rector please visit: http://www.saintpaulslewiston.com/index.html