Looking to the Saints

We've made it a semi-regular practice during worship at our Friday night gatherings to center the time around the life of a Saint whose feast day has just passed or is upcoming.

My friend Phil sent me a message today that I found to be inspiring and explanatory for those who wonder why people honor the saints. Phil is a part of the landing place in Columbus, Ohio, and the brief times I've spent with them have blessed me, encouraged me, and challenged me. This past spring, they lost their shepherd, Mark Palmer. In honor of him and the generations of saints who have gone before us, a quote from Palmer:

In celebration of All Saint's Day, I was going to offer some quotes from those who have gone before, giving us an example of how to live well in the Story. But I quickly realized that the quotes were to random, meaningful to me for a certain time and a certain place, but probably not meaningful to you. So instead, I will just encourage you with this...chase after the stories of those saints who have gone before us. They offer us so much, and too often their lives have been ignored or dismissed, mostly out of indifference, sometimes out of disdain. But if we do not learn from those who have gone before, who then do we learn from?

So read the stories and the writings of the men and women who have lived the life of discipleship to Jesus over the last 2,000 years. Allow their stories to transform your story. You will be all the better for your effort.
2005-11-01
-palmer

| landing place, all saints day, saints, palmer, mark palmer |