11/03/2024
Today we celebrated All Saints Day, and in my sermon, “What If There Is No Heaven,” I talked about the importance of the only commandment that takes us closer to the Kingdom of God here and now: Love God and Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Now, as we get closer to the Election Day, I want to share Boris Pasternak’s poem “God Sends Us to Each Other.”
God sends us all to one another,
For joy or sorrow — none can say,
Until we’ve walked our given circle,
Until we’ve learned the lessons laid,
And passed the tests life sets our way.
We need each other till the end,
Though usefulness may seem unclear.
Our roles are rarely of true weight,
And tenderness may hesitate,
At times too distant, harsh, or near.
Who knows the reason we’re entwined?
What binds, connects, and holds us close?
Together, day by day, we find
Ourselves in one another’s eyes,
Unmasking what we fear and know.
The roads ahead still call us on,
And friendship on that path is grace.
So, let us not dismiss as vain:
GOD SENDS US ALL TO ONE ANOTHER.
And thanks to God — we are not few.
