Mug of Grace

Most summers after I turned 9, I flew with the unaccompanied minor program to Bradenton, FL where my grandparents lived in a townhouse with a pool. I spent the days helping with things around the house, putting together desserts for my grandma’s tea parties, and spending endless hours in the pool. I woke up early most mornings, spending time with my grandpa who liked the early morning hours and sat in the darkness for an hour or so before the sun rose. Together, we would “read” the paper - I would look at the comics while he read more serious things.

A black coffee drinker, he would make me a hot chocolate — the day’s first practice of grace and generosity with tablespoon after tablespoon of chocolate heaped into the already chocolate Nesquik mixture.

This week, we celebrated my grandpa’s 98 years of life by touring around the places he and my grandmother raised their 3 children and holding a small service outside of the former Naval base near Detroit that included military honors. It was amazing to drive past the places he and my grandma made a mark on: the park they helped build with all recycled materials, the hospital they volunteered at, the many stories of things gone wrong, and grandpa sitting down with the kids to attend to them with grace, even when big things happened like car accidents.

To live a life that is centered in grace and generosity is the life modeled to us by God’s economy: one where scarcity is met with abundance; fear met with assurance; early mornings met with hot chocolate so thick the spoon could stand up in it. This week, as we prepare for our congregational meeting and as we enter into the last of this series on abundance, let us open our senses to the overflow all around us.

With Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photo: My grandfather, David A. Bennett and grandmother, Beverly Bennett just before grandpa left to work as a morsecode operator during WWII.

While my mom and I cut bats from construction paper for our Halloween decorations, we loved watching Hocus Pocus—the fun story of witches freed for one night to cast their spells of immortality, when the veil between life and death grows thin. I loved the costumes, the mischief, and the courage of the kids determined to make sure the mystery of death was not overcome by the wrong people, even as I proudly wore my own witches' hat.

Halloween was once all about seeing how much candy I could stuff into my pillowcase. Now, I find myself drawn to the deeper traditions of All Hallows’ Eve—a time rooted in Western Europe’s ancient rituals that honor the thin space between the living and the dead. As the world around us sheds its color—leaves falling, greenery fading—we are invited to ponder what has passed and what is yet to come. This season of bright leaves and dewy mornings beckons us to contemplate life’s mysteries and to welcome what we can only glimpse through a veil.

As we open our doors to trick-or-treaters and listen to their sometimes cringy jokes, may we also remember to turn inward once the porch lights go dark. Let us welcome the spirits of our ancestors, making space for the saints who continue to guide and shape us. As you mark All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day, light a candle for those who have shown you the way—honoring the saints, seen and unseen, who help us navigate the beautiful mystery of life.

Let us pray:

In your wisdom beyond our understanding, you have placed a veil around this life. We don’t know what was before; we don’t know what’s after. All we know is the passing from one to the next and the holy in-between in which we live all of our days. Our lives are only a brief glimmer in your eternal glory, one flickering candle with a borrowed flame. [...]⁠

Let our brief flames ignite and inspire others, passing on what we have received from the saints you have placed in our lives. And as our lights dim, grant us the peace of rest in your holy darkness and your eternal glory. May we then come to fully understand the mystery of our faith:⁠

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Amen."⁠

⁠—excerpt of a prayer from "Liturgy for All Saints Day" by Rev. Anna Strickland

Blessings,
Rev. Lauren

Mug Of Grace

Happy Halloween!