Weekly Reflection - 5/15/24

St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Eric Metoyer

‘The Saints before us, the Saints among us,’

‘Saint: A holy person, a faithful Christian, one who shares life in Christ. The term may also indicate one who has been formally canonized or recognized as a saint by church authority. In the New Testament, the term is applied to all faithful Christians (see Acts 9:32, 26:10).’ (The Episcopal Dictionary)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a Great Cloud of Witnesses, … let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Letter to the Hebrews, 12:1)

Sunday we attended the memorial service for Rev Cecil Williams, long time pastor of Glide Memorial Church and founder of the Glide Foundation. Theologian, civil rights activist, and much more, he was friend and pastor of hundreds, if not thousands of people of our city. During the service we heard tributes to him, for over three hours; spoken and musical, all tearful, funny, and deeply, deeply heartfelt; testimony of his love and care for all who knew him.

One of the speakers that afternoon spoke of the saints; explained how she, growing up, saw the statues of the populating the nooks of their church, and was told the saints were perfect lives… models of perfection and godliness for all of us to emulate. She understood Rev Cecil Williams as one who practiced a theology of unconditional love, to everyone he met. Love for the people in the Tenderloin and this city who Glide fed, sheltered, and held in the arms of God’s love. Not an alabaster statue, rather, he was the warm, loving, giving person present, a saint among us.

I understood her testimony, I was raised in Roman Catholicism, and remember the stained glass and alabaster, cold saints, their lives so perfect and inexplicable to me. When I came to the Episcopal Church, and learned more about the Great Cloud of Witnesses, those saints who came before us, and all the saints amongst us, my understanding of who were the saints expanded. Episcopal Church saints, such as Rev Florence Li Tim-Oi, Rev Pauli Murray, Rt Rev Paul Jones, many, many others… People who lived out their life with the Christ, people with the light and shadow side, people quite human in faults and also quite human in their Godly practice of sharing the love of Christ in one another. They are the saints who were once among us and now are in the Great Cloud of Witnesses. I gain great comfort knowing that the saints are praying me through this race I run, this race we run, following the Way of Jesus Christ.

As Sunday’s speaker stepped down, pastor Marvin White led us in the prayer:

Say ‘Love’ (LOVE)
Say ‘Walk that talk’ (WALK THAT TALK)

… then next speaker spoke, the Glide Ensemble followed in song, the Hammond B3 organ hit the highlights; right then I felt the transition, knowing another saint among us enter into the Great Cloud of Witnesses. He was a saint once among us, now of the saints who came before us, cheering us in this race run before us.

I pray us all, we remember the saints who came before us, whose memorials we attended here at Union and Steiner, and how their lives, these saints among us, touched and enriched ours. Emboldened by that Great Cloud of Witnesses, I pray we too continue to support one another as the saints among us, love one another as Christ loved us, and provide example for the saints yet to come.

The Great Cloud of Witnesses join us singing:
Let the Church say ‘Love’ (LOVE)
Let the Church say ‘Walk that talk’ (WALK THAT TALK)
Let the Church say ‘Amen’ (AMEN).

Blessings be,

Fr Eric