Mirrors of your love

I was printing cards all morning, and by mid afternoon I was in need of a change of scene and some fresh air. We set off in sunshine, but it was a bracing walk because it was pretty windy out! 

Which brings me neatly to this little gem of information, gleaned from my "Poem for the Day" book, which today featured a short speech from The Tempest: It is exactly 411 years to the day since the first recorded performance by Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men, of his play "The Tempest" in front of King James 1 on Hallowmas night, 1st November 1611.

Hallowmas, or All Hallows’ Day, is of course what we now call All Saints’ Day, which is why I’ve used this photo of the spire of our church, All Saints’, Woodford Wells, for my blip. Rather than write a blip yesterday about All Hallows’ Eve, which has sadly been entirely misappropriated for commercial ends, I choose instead to celebrate All Saints’ Day. This prayer for today comes from the Church of England website.


Lord, today,

We thank you for the saints now gone before us
whose faith defined their living and their dying;
those who loved you more than their own lives;
those who are still mirrors of your love.

We celebrate the saints who walk among us
rejoicing while they walk in your footsteps,
making your name known in a fractured world,
against injustice, prejudice, hatred, evil.
We stand with those who sacrifice themselves
to bring about your kingdom here on earth.

Lord, your grace shines in the lives of saints.
We thank you for their example, their holy words.
Your spirit inspired them. Come Holy Spirit
inspire us to be saints in your church now.