Dear People of St. Catherine’s,
On November 1 we will turn our clocks back to standard time. It always seems unfair that our extra hour of sleep that night leads to earlier darkness in the afternoon. Supper now becomes an evening activity. Those lingering hours on the patio will have to be by torchlight. It’s darker on the way to work in the morning. We have reached the “turning” time of the year.
I don’t think the ancient druids in northern Europe fiddled with their clocks seasonally, like we do. But for some reason they still found this time of the natural year a great “turning” time. It was the new year for them. It was a holy time. It was the time when spirits of the dead
came close. It was a liminal time, a “thin” time, when the mysteries of life lay close by and we could reach across and be made holy.
No wonder that the Christian church in northern Europe adopedt this druid custom. Instead of the new year, we called it “All Saints Day” We imagine God differently than did the druids, but it is still the “turning” time of the year. We remember those of our company who have died. We celebrate their lives and commemorate their grace. Most of those we remember on All Saints were not famous. Most of them did not achieve great things. Some of them “rest in unvisited tombs,” in the memorable words of George Eliot.
Yet we remember them. We turn our hearts and minds to them. We pray that they may rest in peace and rise in glory. We recognize the great company that lies behind us and the ones who hold us up to this very day.
As we turn back the clocks, it always feels as if the light turns away from us. But there is light and there is light. In this turning time, let us turn our hearts to the source of light. In our national life, let us turn back to civility and decency; let us seek the light of national purpose and holy striving, to build a blessed community in our land. In our parish life, let us turn toward the great task of calling our new rector and pray that God will send us a priest to lead us forward.
Turning sometimes feels uncomfortable and disorienting. But in our story of salvation it is always in turning that we find ourselves. It is always in turning around that we see our faults. Turning is necessary for God’s holy purpose to be revealed.
After the reward of my extra hour of sleep, I’m going to let myself be turned by God and see the light of his glory. Won’t you join me?
Yours in Christ,
Allen W. Farabee
Interim Rector