Saints

It is staggering sometimes to truly think about all the people that make us who we are. Sure there are the obvious sources: the ones who raised us, family members, teachers, mentors. But then you think about the people whose stories transformed your own journey. Or the ones who wrote a story or a song or created something that changed the trajectory of your life.

Though the celebration existed long before the American celebration of Thanksgiving, it is appropriate that All Saints’ Day kicks off this month of gratitude. It is a day when we celebrate those who have gone before us in faith and who are now part of that great cloud of witnesses urging us on as we journey forward.

Before this day comes to a close, I want to remember a few of those people who have been saints to my life. Some like my grandmother have had an exponentially larger impact on my life than others. This list is also by no means exhaustive, but simply those that came to mind as I meditated for a short amount of time. Nor are they all people I have met. And some of the names on here are not even people who were necessarily Christian, but people whose lives have in some way extended a grace to me that has enriched my faith.

Here are just a few of the saints for whom I am thankful on this day and all others:

• Sharon Williams

• Richmond and Mary Cox

• Josh Allen

• Jim Craig

• Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Thomas Didymus

• Francis of Assisi

• The Canaanite Woman

• Fred Rogers

• Jim Henson

• C. S. Lewis

• Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

• John Wesley

• Charles Schulz