Today we celebrate All Saint’s Day, remembering the great saints of the church as well as our faithful departed. When we think of saints we often call to mind miracles, faithfulness, constancy. We think of people who are especially holy, especially close to God. We might think, I could never be like that.
So much of a life that is holy is one good decision at a time. One act of courage at a time. One act of love at a time. We are all saints by virtue of our baptism. Called to bring the light of Christ into the world. It isn’t that we could never be that, we are that. So we have to imagine and pray and be ready for what God might be calling us to do.
Not all of our good deeds and mighty acts of sacrifice happen in church. The kindness we show to others, letting someone go first in line, complimenting someone for their goodness, all of that adds up. It’s pretty easy to be good in church. The real world is much more challenging.
I have been pondering lately the ways we offer ourselves to serve. And I have deeply appreciated the people from our parish who ran for local elections this year. Some of them won, some did not. All were ready to spend time in the community doing the hard work of leadership.
Serving as a council person or school board member isn’t what it used to be. The anger of people in the midst of a pandemic, the level of violence, has been well documented and frankly horrifying. Where people learn to behave like this is another blog, but they are and it is scary.
So to run for office these days is to know that you have to be the adult in the room, that you will certainly deal with someone who disagrees with you passionately, and that it won’t always be easy to live your convictions. In other words, it takes courage. And a willingness to serve courageously is something to be admired and to follow.
Say thank you to the people in your community who ran for office, especially if they didn’t win, especially if you disagree with them. Our democracy needs public servants, and our faith needs courageous leaders. May God bless all who ran and continue to inspire them to work in our community.