We invite you to join us in observing Allhallowtide by taking a sacred pause over the next couple of days and practice one or all of these mediations. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Simply create a little space to reflect, remember, and listen for God's loving presence. Maybe in your favorite comfy chair, at the dining table or on your yoga mat in a comfortable shape. Have a safe space to light a candle.
🕯️ Remember Your Own Mortality
If you feel comfortable* (thinking on our own death can certainly be triggering to some, check in with your body before entering into this practice. If it feels like your body is saying ‘no’, honor that and focus on remembering someone who has gone before you or the Allhallowtide Blessing.) Spend a little time prayerfully imagining the end of your life. Light a candle in your own honor and to remember that Christ is with you. You don't need to know how or when it will happen. Instead, consider these questions in the loving presence of Jesus:
Who do I hope to be in my final breaths?
Who do I hope will be with me?
What do I hope the people I love will remember about me?
What matters most to me when I consider the life I'm living right now?
Notice what arises without judgment. If fear, grief, or uncertainty surfaces, bring that to Jesus, too. You don't have to be brave or have all the answers. Simply receive His compassion for your very human condition, trusting that you and those in your imagining are held in Love now and always.
🕯️ Remember Those Who Have Gone Before You
Bring to mind the people you love who have died. Perhaps they were family members, dear friends, spiritual mentors, or saints whose lives have shaped your faith. Light a candle in their honor. Speak their names aloud. Write down a favorite memory in your journal or share a story with someone who remembers them, too.
What did they teach you about being human? What parts of their love, wisdom, or faith continue to live in you?
Allow yourself to feel whatever comes—gratitude, sadness, longing, joy, or some tender mixture of them all. There is room for all of it.
And as you remember, invite in gratitude and hope. Give thanks for the lives that have touched yours, and rest in the promise that death does not have the final word.
🕯️ Receive a Blessing
Finally, find a quiet place to sit with this All Hallows Blessing by Jan Richardson, How the Stars Get in Your Bones. Let the words wash over you slowly, without needing to analyze or accomplish anything. Simply receive them as a prayer for this season of remembrance.
ALL HALLOWS BLESSING
Who live
in the spaces between
our breathing
in the corner
of our vision
in the hollows
of our bones
in the chambers
of our heart:
nowhere can they
be touched
yet still
how they move us
how they move
in us
made from the
tissue of memory
like the veil
between the worlds
that stirs at
the merest breath
this night
and then is
at rest.
—Jan Richardson from How the Stars Get in Your Bones
May this sacred pause help you return to your ordinary days a little more awake to the goodness around you, a little more tender toward yourself and fellow humans, and a little more rooted in the love of Christ.
Sometimes, remembering that we will die is precisely what helps us remember how to live.
