Living Memory 

The people we love who have gone ahead of us into whatever comes after this life can continue to inhabit our memories of them. 

Today is All Saints' Day 

  on the Western Christian calendar. 

I believe that this Feast day is an adaptation 

  of the ancient Earth based Feast of Samhain, 

    renamed All Hallows' Eve in English

      as a time to remember all 

        of our dearly departed loved ones. 

The evening is before is just as holy because 

  the holiest days begin 

    at sundown on the day before. 

For example, because of holy days 

  beginning on the evening before, 

    every Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown 

      on Friday evening. 

For the same reason, 

  Christmas Eve is as much a part of Christmas 

    as Christmas Day itself. 

Both Samhain (Halloween) and All Saints Day, 

  the evening before and the day itself,  

    celebrate the thin time, 

      a remembrance and making present 

        of the people and creatures 

          whom we have loved 

            who have gone before us into the life 

              that follows this life. 

No one knows exactly what that life is, 

  but many of us hope that it is more than memory. 

Even if it is only the memory 

  of those of us who are still in this world, 

    it is a meaningful and worthwhile matter 

      for our consideration, especially today. 

Because of the thin time, today is important 

  for considering the meaning of memory 

    and also for considering 

      whatever more there may be beyond memory. 

I often think and speak of the thin time 

  around this time of year 

    because the thin time is an important aspect 

      of the celebration 

        of this holiday 

          or holy day 

            for me. 

The term, thin time, simply means 

  that the veil between the worlds 

    becomes particularly thin 

      around this time of year. 

We are in a time of transition, 

  and we can often see ourselves and our world 

    in new ways when things are changing. 

This principle of seeing in new ways applies 

  to individual people 

    to nations and societies 

      and to the situations in which we find ourselves. 

So it also applies to our election season 

  and its denoument, as in a play or drama.  

In other words, 

  the resolution and its result are at hand. 

Regardless of our political commitments, 

  we are all hoping (and praying) 

    for a positive and peaceful result. 

As I've said before, 

  the most important part of this thin time for me 

    is the ease of observing nature spirits 

      around this time of year. 

Everything that breathes has spirit, 

  since breath is what the term spirit actually means. 

At this time of year, it seems to me, 

  we can feel the presence of spirit or breath 

    in ways that we might not even notice 

      at other times. 

Since today is All Saints Day, 

  I want us to think together 

    especially about the spirit and presence 

      of those who have gone ahead of us 

        into that which is beyond us, 

          even if they have simply gone 

            into our living memories. 

I'm making the claim that memory holds life 

  within itself, more than just the hope 

    of an afterlife. 

When we speak of someone 

  whose life in this world has ended, 

    we often say, "They breathed their last." 

What that amounts to, I believe, 

  is that those who have died 

    have breathed out their breath, 

      their life, their spirit. 

Where has it gone? 

That is what is not known, 

  even by those who claim that they know for sure. 

We all have beliefs about it, 

  but I want us to think about it together 

    in terms of the world we call memory. 

Memory can be a delicate thing, 

  in that it can be transformed in good and bad ways, 

    and it can be lost through disease or injury. 

Yet there is much more to it 

  than meets the mind. 

My mother had Alzheimer's Disease 

  for about the last 25 years of her life. 

Over those years, she lost 

  and occasionally recovered 

    more memories than I can conceive of. 

She certainly lives on in my memory 

  and in the memories of others as well. 

In her final days, she taught me 

  an important lesson 

    about the meaning and power of memory. 

I had spent a full day with my stepdad 

  helping him search for a care home 

    that he and my mother could move into. 

For the first time ever, I had paid no attention to her. 

As I was saying, "Good evening," 

  before heading home, a couple of hours away, 

    as I was standing near her, 

      still without speaking to her, 

        she kicked me! :-) 

Never in my life have I felt a more welcome,

  more meaningful, and more loving kick! 

At that time, very near the end of her life, 

  she was unable to speak, 

    and yet 

      she was quite able to communicate! 

In that moment I realized that she knew who I was, 

  and she was aware that I had ignored her all day. 

She was telling me that she was still right there 

  and I WAS going to pay attention to her. 

Needless to say, I took a moment 

  to talk to her and to tell her how much I loved her. 

I shared the story with her surviving sisters, 

  and they confirmed with me, 

    "Oh yes! That was your mother!" 

I've told this story many times before, 

  maybe to you, 

    mostly to make clear 

      that memory has more about it 

        than we can understand. 

One of our beloved NIUU people 

  shared a view of our final moments in this world 

    that he anticipates finding meaningful: 

Even if there is nothing awaiting us 

  on the other side of death, 

    we will have our memories 

      to spend our final moments with. 

To be honest, 

  I do not find that a frightening thought. 

Memory is a world unto itself, 

  inhabited by the people and events 

    that we have held on to 

      for good and ill. 

It can motivate us to confirm and think of 

  our memories in positive ways, 

    using them to understand good things 

      about the meaning of our lives. 

Living memory is inhabited by love, 

  and with it we create a world we can inhabit 

    along with the people who remain with us 

      through our lives here and now 

        as well as there and then. 

Living memory is part of our lives 

  until we breathe our last. 

I find deep comfort in the idea 

  that living memory is a world of love 

    inhabited by people we have loved 

      who have gone there ahead of us. 

I find equally deep comfort in the idea 

  that living memory is a world of love 

    I myself will inhabit one day 

      after I breathe my last. 

Will I be conscious there as an individual? 

Honestly, I don't know. 

I do believe that consciousness is a reality 

  beyond the constraints of time, space, 

    and the physical boundaries of the synapses 

      it inhabits in our world. 

I think of our brains as a matrix 

  that consciousness can inhabit 

    rather than thinking of them as 

      the creators of our consciousness. 

These thoughts and beliefs 

  are not at all defensible, scientific fact. 

There may be good reasons for that. 

We shall see. 

Meanwhile, in our present world, 

  before I close this sermon, 

    I want to offer a few more thoughts 

      about the thin time we are in together. 

The election that is culminating 

  the day after tomorrow 

    is a scary prospect 

      no matter what happens. 

Because of a movie by the name, 

  The Day after Tomorrow, 

    it's a scary idea. 

The movie was about terrifying consequences 

  of climate change. 

We are living through 

  some of the consequences now, 

    but none of them are as scary 

      as those portrayed in the movie. 

At the same time, 

  the thin time itself 

    is not necessarily scary or spooky. 

Halloween is fun, after all, 

  and I've believed for many years 

    that part of the fun 

      is getting to laugh at the things that scare us. 

So keep that in mind, please, my friends. 

Whatever happens 

  over the next days or even weeks, 

    our life together as a nation 

      is far greater and stronger 

        than the threats we are facing together. 

The key word here is, "together," 

  because we are E PLURIBUS UNUM, 

    out of many one. 

United we stand, divided we fall. 

The divisions of our time are ultimately an illusion. 

As a people we have been deeply divided before, 

  and those divisions have been healed. 

Let the healing and unity begin now. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

PLEASE.