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Saints and Swedenborgians

Open your Bible



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OPENING SONG
When the Saints go Marching In




READINGS


 
From the Bible:

John 11
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39"Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

From Swedenborg

Angels talk with each other just as men do in the world, and on various subjects, as on domestic matters, and on matters of the civil state, and of moral, and spiritual life. Nor is there any difference except that their talk is more intelligent than that of men, because it is more interiorly from thought. I have been permitted to associate with them frequently, and to talk with them as friend with friend, and sometimes as stranger with stranger; and as I was then in a state like theirs I did not know otherwise than that I was talking with men on the earth.  Heaven and Hell, 234


Saints and Swedenborgians



 
Saints and Swedenborgians
Nov. 1, 2009
Ten years ago I was spending Halloween at a retreat Center on Cape Cod. I was part of a training program designed for parish ministers to learn more about being supervisors for field education students. At one point, we were divided into small groups, and each group was to role play some difficult conversation between student and supervisor. In my group, we decided to role play a student leading a Sunday worship service just before Halloween.  As I recall, I played the role of the student, whose worship service was primarily about honoring Halloween. Of course, my “supervisor” had to have a talk with me about why Halloween is not appropriate for Christian worship as it is not a Christian event.
We had a lot of laughs over the role play, but it left me with some serious questions. I had never celebrated All Saints Day or All Souls Day in my childhood, as I raised Baptist. I knew they were the two days after Halloween and all connected in some sort of pagan – Christian way. I was intrigued to know more. Would they hold any meaning for me as a Swedenborgian? I’d like to share some reflections on what I’m learning.
 
Connections with those in the other world
 
It is believed by some Christians that on the first two days of November, the veil between our world and the spirit world, is the most thin it will be during the year, and communication between the two worlds can take place.   That seemed a good place to find a commonality between Swedenborgians with these celebrations. I enjoyed reading this:
A pilgrim returning from the Holy Land was cast by a storm on a desolate island. A hermit living there told him that amid the rocks was a chasm communicating with purgatory, from which perpetually rose the groans of tortured souls. The hermit also claimed he had heard the demons complaining of the efficacy of the prayers of the faithful, and especially the monks of Cluny, in rescuing their victims. Upon returning home, the pilgrim hastened to inform the abbot of Cluny, who then set 2 November as a day of intercession on the part of his community for all the souls in purgatory.
 
In Mexico, all soul’s day is called Dia De Los Muertos – Day of the dead.
 
While the culture in the U.S. is to shy away from discussions of death, Mexicans embrace death. They use Dia De Los Muertos as an opportunity to celebrate the death and the life of loved ones and friends they knew in this world.  It is a time to celebrate memories. Sometimes a meal is prepared of the foods that the deceased had loved most. Pa de Muertos – bread of the dead – is often baked at this time.
Dia De Los Muertos was celebrated in late July and early August by Aztec Indians for thousands of years. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico in the 1500's, they looked upon this celebration as a pagan ritual. In an effort to eliminate it, they moved it to the date of All Saints and All Souls Day in November. The effort failed, and the Aztecs along with all Mexicans, continue to celebrate the holiday.
On Dia De Los Muertos, people prepare a feast with many of the favorite dishes of lost loved ones. Pan de Muertos or "Bread of the Dead" is traditional bread which is baked and eaten during this celebration. Mementos are set out of favorite things of the ones who have passed away.
INTERFAITH
 
Pagan: The pagan Festival of the Dead, celebrated souls returning to their home to share a meal. Candles in the window would guide the souls back home, and another place was set at the table. Children would beg for food to be to the dead, and then donated to feed the hungry.

 
Druid:
Halloween has its origins in Druidism.   It was originally a festival celebrated by Celts at the beginning of winter.
Celts: Their year was divided into  summer and winter. The winter half of the Celtic year began on Samhain on October 31 to honor the start of winter and was intended "to assist the powers of growth in their conflict with winter's death."
Early Celts had many gods and goddesses they worshipped. Around the 5th century, the Celts became Christian.
Aztecs: Dia De Los Muertos was celebrated in late July and early August by Aztec Indians for thousands of years. When the Spaniards conquered them, they attempted to get rid of this day. No luck! So, they moved it to the same days as All Saints and All Souls Day in November. Did the Spaniards succeed in their efforts? No way.
Romans: In early A.D., Romans came to the Celtic territories, and they celebrated Samhain. They also brought their own holiday: Feralia. The Roman day to honor the dead was in late October, as well as another holiday to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. It is possible that this Roman influence is the reason apples are given out and bobbed for on Halloween.
Similar acknowledgments of those who have passed on are present in many traditions, including Buddhism, Shintoism, Shamanism, Hinduism. There is a widespread understanding common to all the major religions that human beings are most essentially spiritual beings who live on eternally as spiritual beings after their physical lives have ended.
 
WHO ARE THE SAINTS
 
I learned that the word saint comes from the Latin terms Sanctus, meaning “holy.”
Sometimes it is seen as a celebration for all of the faithful who have died.
Over time, the church, feeling that every martyr should be honored, had picked one day for all to be remembered.
We are all saints and souls, Swedenborg said that we are all able to become angels. – Sort of equal opportunity for all -- now and for ever.
Who are martyrs to remember … or people who in some way worked to bring us closer to a just society?
 
2 weeks ago my sermon was about Swedenborgians who had made a difference in the world, and I discussed Ellen Spencer Mussey. Susan Poole had researched Mussey for her book “Lost Legacy.”
Ellen practiced law before women could be lawyers. She was active in suffrage before women could vote. And she was a Swedenborgian delegate at the first Parliament of World Religions.

Ellen was out of step with society most of her life. She made a difference in the world, and is one of the “saints” I will remember today.
Gay-lesbian martyrs
Because of Maine's historic vote this week on Equal Marriage, I wondered about the history of equal unions. 

I learned about two men who were in a gay partnership – and are officially “saints” in the Catholic Church.
 
Saints Sergius and Bacchus
 
Saints Sergius and Bacchus were Roman soldiers, Christian martyrs and gay men who loved each other. They were killed around 303 in present-day Syria. Their feast day is observed on Oct. 7. The couple was openly gay, but secretly Christian -- the opposite of today’s closeted Christians.
Recent scholarship has revealed their homosexuality. The oldest record of their martyrdom describes them as erastai (Greek for “lovers”). Scholars believe that they may have been united in the rite of adelphopoiesis (brother-making), a kind of early Christian same-sex marriage.
The men were arrested and paraded through the streets in women’s clothing in an unsuccessful effort to humiliate them. Early accounts say that they responded by chanting that they were dressed as brides of Christ. They told their captors that women’s dress never stopped women from worshipping Christ, so it wouldn’t stop them, either. Then Sergius and Bacchus were separated and beaten so severely that Bacchus died.
According to the early manuscripts, Bacchus appeared to Sergius that night with a face as radiant as an angel’s, dressed once again as a soldier. He urged Sergius not to give up because they would be reunited in heaven as lovers. His statement is unique in the history of martyrs. Usually the promised reward is union with God, not with a lover. Over the next days Sergius was tortured and eventually beheaded.
 
So, I have decided that I would like to honor these days from my Swedenborgian perspective. I will feel that I am not only being true to my own faith – but also being inclusive of other traditions: Aztecs, Roman god’s ad goddesses, Druids, Celts, and Christians. 
 
Other pagan holidays – such as Christian and Easter – got taken over by Christians to make them into Christian celebrations.   In our culture, they largely succeed. Halloween is different, it has never lost its pagan characters, and it flows easily into the following two days.
So, let’s honor all of those people who have made a difference in our personal lives and/or in the world. And also keep in mind that we are changing the world and each other every moment of our lives.



 
Closing Song
"Rock my Soul"




Extinguish your candles
 
   




And close the Bible.            
 

 
Go forth;  Remembering loved ones in the spirit world, and celebrating your own road to being an angel