6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8he will swallow up death forever.—Isaiah 25:6-8a
Hope is an amazing thing. It gives us strength to endure the hardest times; it fills us with a peace when we are worried; and it opens our minds to possibilities that had been unknowable.
When your world falls apart, hope is what helps you survive. I learned about hope after my divorce. I was totally unsure of how I would move forward after having spent my entire adult life living with someone. I came to God, asking for guidance…and hope.
This passage from Isaiah reminds us that even in the hardest time, when everything seems to be falling apart, God is there, preparing another way. God is always preparing a feast for the future, something to look forward to, so that we can endure the present with the knowledge that something better is coming.
Our hope for this day, All Saints Day, is that death is not the end but the beginning—the beginning of an eternity of rest and joy and peace on the mountain of the Lord. We remember this as we celebrate the lives of our mentors, our faith builders, and all those who lived lives of service and now rest in God.
Let their witness guide you this day and always into new ways of bringing hope to your world.
Peace to you.