For ALL the Saints, Who Now in Glory Rest

During the time I spent in Knoxville Hannah and I became familiar with a local print shop called, YeeHaw Industries. With their presses they make lots of interesting “art-like” products including posters, postcards, stationary, and even clothes. We collected a lot of work from the shop during our year in Knoxville. [As Hannah has gone back to Knoxville to fulfill some grad school requirements, she has definite instructions to bring back whatever will fit in her suitcase.] Our walls are covered with a variety of pieces from the print shop. We have prints of a banjo, a fiddle, and a couple of “Appalachian” themed prints.

But my absolute favorite thing at YeeHaw Industries is their specialty, wood cut prints of classic country music stars. They have prints of Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Carl Perkins, Lucinda Williams, and more. But what makes these prints so impressive and powerful is not just the witty descriptions of the stars or the intricately crafted designs. Rather what stands out is that they are most often done in a style reminiscent of the icons of the saints, there is a definite hagiographic element to these prints of classic country music stars. And my favorite (as a fan  of mid-20^th century folk music) is their piece of Woody Guthrie. Across the top of the piece, printed in uneven type is, ‘Saint of the Working Man.’ The bottom the poster describes the nature of Woody's work which I admire, “Woodrow fought for the dignity of working people who were down on their luck. He walked out the Dust Bowl singing, ‘So Long It’s Been Good to Know You.’ Fact.”

As November comes, Emmanuel will celebrate with the whole church All Saints Sunday. We will celebrate all the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. We will remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptismal journey is now complete. Around God's table we will gather, as we do each week, with the faithful of every time and place, trusting that the promises of God will be fulfilled and that in the kingdom to come the tears of all will be wiped away.

I am reminded of this depiction of Woody Guthrie as All Saints Sunday approaches because it reminds me of the immersive and ever-expanding dimension of God’s work. On All Saints, we will remember and celebrate with the faithful of every time and place; the living and the dead. But we also celebrate the faithful work of the Saints of the every day and the ordinary. In much of Woody’s work I find this celebration of and concern for the work and lives of everyday people. Likewise, we celebrate those who have gone before us not only because of their faith and because their baptismal journeys are now complete, but we give thanks for God’s work that they did among us, in the everyday and the ordinary. Whether in the compassionate nurture of a mother or diligent guidance of a father or in the day to day vocational work in which our forbearers engaged, we celebrate this Sunday and every Sunday the faithful work God does through the Saints of every day, every time, and every place.