Week Five

Peaceful Shores

Having travelled through this stormy theme the last four weeks we come at last to the peaceful shore, the second part of our title. All Saints Days falls in this final part of the theme. It is a day when we remember all the saints: all the saints that have been, all the saints there are, and all the saints that are to come! We are a heavenly collective. We are all connected and we all matter. None of us are insignificant. We belong to God, and through God we belong to one another. 

We all have a part to play. We saints on a mission from God. To live lives committed to those who need us and connected to the realities of heaven — of goodness and kindness and hope. Lighthouses guiding the storm-wrecked to peace. Through Communion we are connected to a cloud of saints urging us on. The storm is not all there is. There is peace too, hard won.

SEEDS TO SOW: WHAT DOES IT MEANT TO BE A SAINT?

Read Isaiah 25: 1-9

(once before and once after the question, and as many more times as you like!)

A peaceful shore. Wiping away tears.

As you read this text what one word stands out to you?

Read Hebrews 12: 1-2

All Saints. 

Through all weathers, there is a cloud of saints urging us on!

What inspires you from the history of our faith to work for peace today? Both in the global sense and the personal history of you and your local community.

Read Revelation 5: 8

Smelling the sweet scent of the prayers of the saints. 

Here we are given a vivid multi-sensory picture, inviting us to consider molecular prayers rising through the air. This connects us back to Isaiah 55: 6-11 that we looked at in week 2 with its image of The Lord’s word falling and returning like rain.

What would happen if we pictured our prayers actually as literal molecules rising to heaven to mingle with other molecules to form great clouds? How could that image inspire our prayers this week?

* SEEDS TO SOW: These are open-ended and optional prompts and are designed for people wanting to develop their own resources in response to the themes. Perhaps if you are using this material as a group you could use these prompts to inspire a time of prayer, or drawing, or creative writing? They are a short and sweet, simply a starting off place for you and your imagination. Tailor and develop as suits your group.