all souls day

Today, the day after all saints day, is the Roman Catholic holy day called all souls day. What an appropriate week in my own life. Wednesday saw the passing of the father of my best friend and the loss has rested deep in our community. This day takes on special significance right now in light of this recent tragedy.

The experiential emphasis in our religious experience is especially pertinent for me right now. The experience of the presence of the oppression of death is the one final common human factor. We all die. Unfortunately, we are united in death. Fortunately, in our frailty we meet Christ who has had his share of death.

The unity with Christ and the Christian community has been made especially clear in the last week. The support that Luther extends speaks greatly of the seminary as a Christian community. As a church goer recently said when I interviewed him for a class, "We do death well."

I am about to leave for my friend's father's funeral, thus the short and jumbled entry. I will write again soon.

Tim