As we proceed full speed ahead into this holiday season, it has been so wonderful to see many of our Holy Spirit traditions coming back. Trunk-or-Treat was a blast and there were so many costumed kiddos and creative trunks. We will have our Thanksgiving dinner and Eucharist this Sunday evening at 5 (don’t forget your side or desert to go with our smoked turkeys and dressing!). Some traditional parts of our common life are still not quite back to normal, such as having our Advent wreath making outside next Sunday, but all things considered, it is good to be back.

I recently sat with a couple who are getting married at Holy Spirit next week to talk through our Prayer Book service. When we think of weddings, we often think about vows, rings, and giving the church’s blessing. Whether they know it or not, most are pretty familiar with our BCP vows as they are the basis for most of what you will see in shows and movies with some version of “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.” The Declaration of Consent near the beginning of the service may also be familiar, “Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor and keep him/her, in sickness and in health…”

The Feast of All Saints holds a special place in the worship life of the church. As is stated in a liturgical book of observances, “All Saints’ Day is classed…as a Principal Feast, taking precedence of any day or observance. Among the seven so classified, All Saints’ Day alone may be observed on the following Sunday, in addition to its observance on its fixed date.” The aforementioned fixed date was November 1st, which you may note is the day after All Hallows Eve, now called Halloween. It is all connected. All this said, All Saints must be a pretty big deal, right?

When Will Stafford shared his idea for the Stewardship theme this year, I knew immediately that he had put his finger on the pulse of our community. “Joyous Together” embodies how I feel every time I get to see you. Every Sunday I see new faces I have missed for months and seeing you all light up when you encounter each other is the love of God manifest. We have weathered a worldwide event and to finally be on this side of it not only points to what we missed, but also how essential this community is. I believe coming together is essential for our wellbeing as well as fulfilling our need to hear the assurance of God’s love.

All the packages arrived today, thus we are ready for Trunk or Treat. As I shared at the announcements this past Sunday, our daughter insisted that our trunk will be “fairy” themed this year. Our son was creative enough to quickly come up with the idea for his costume – he will be the Marvel character “Groot.” That said, I did not get to decide for myself what my costume will be. While I will don my traditional pumpkin shirt, there is an extra part of the costume that you will have to come on the 31st to see.

Fifteen years ago today, I walked into a church in Mississippi. The church was full of family and friends, and as I stood at the front, I anxiously anticipated Sarah’s entry and journey down the aisle. These fifteen years of marriage have been full of joy and wonderful experiences as well as support through many challenges. Wonderfully, we have also shared the experience of guiding two little ones through the early years of their lives. Finally, it has been a blessing to live most of our marriage at Holy Spirit as we have served here eight and a half years.

One month from today, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. In this highly important liturgical feast, we acknowledge that in God and through our baptism we are proclaimed as members of the eternal body and life of the Church and God’s Kingdom. We remember those who have come before us and proclaim that the fulness of life in which they now participate is at the heart of our hope as well. In the same service we will both baptize a little one and pronounce at the altar all the names of those we have lost in recent times. Since we were unable to gather last year, we will remember those whom we have lost over the last two years. If you have family members or friends you would like remembered, please let us know.

As I stood behind the altar this past Sunday morning, I heard a loud noise from outside. Having heard a similar booming sound in my neighborhood not long ago, I prepared for the power to go out. Instead, weirdly, the various lights in the church, and later I would learn all over the campus, began flickering and flashing in a non-synchronistic fashion. Part of our electrical system had failed. Our service recording system was debilitated (which is a shame because Sarah’s sermon was poignantly insightful). The school had to start late on Monday morning after CenterPoint worked through the night and our electricians fervently hustled to get the A/C back up and running. It was a whole thing.