Saturday, November 1, 2008

Weekend Edition: All Saints and All Souls

Does anyone not know my next book is about what Christians really need to know about Judaism's legacy? This is basically all I think or talk about these days...with time out for making trenchant observations about ADA issues.

And what does Judaism have to do with this weekend's observance of All Saints and All Souls? Not much, except I found myself wanting to honor the venerable Jewish tradition of inquiry (read: arguing) when I recently heard a priest say the two holy days really didn't have anything to do with one another.

At that point I so longed to be in a synagogue where I could've leapt up out of my seat like I was at a game show to challenge the Rabbi. (Not that many contemporary Jews avail themselves of this option.) I, of course, was in church listening to a priest, but would dearly have loved to generate some conversation about this equation:

(we're all) saints + death = souls + eternal life = saints


I'm offering it here for you to ponder while listening to Becker's gorgeous litany of the saints, posted by A Concord Pastor complete with music and text. As for me and my house, this will be playing on continuous loop all day.