All Souls

 For Friday, November 2nd

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide 

the family inheritance with me.’ But

 he said to him, ‘Friend, who set

 me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take 

care! Be on your guard against all 

kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought

 to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 

Then he said, “I will do this: I will

 pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my

 grain and my goods. And I will say

 to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be

 merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded

 of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who 

store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you 

will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the 

body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have 

neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you 

than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 

If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even 

Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the 

grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much

 more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are 

to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the

 world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 

Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke

12:13-31

All Souls

Consider the ravens and the magpies

they greet us in the morning with noise

laughing at our human high anxiety

they know they are blessed and loved.

We are here on earth for but a short season

we watch helpless as the light fades away

burdened with hopes, dreams and fears

we worry that our lives will be nothing.

The days are darkening and colder

we huddle in our warm houses and fear

that we cannot stem the tide of hate

nor store up enough to survive.

We must take to the wing again

greeting the morning with our songs

laughing at our selfish and greedy ways

making every moment a sweet prayer.

God is always with us and within us

working the miracles we ignore

God is lighting the fires of new days

making the world turn to be reborn.