This week the church marks All Saints’ Day. We give thanks for those who have mothered and fathered us in faith. We recognize the great cloud of witnesses that surround us, and mark the lives of those who have died recently, entrusting them to God, as they join the company of saints.
The great Baptist preacher Carlyle Marney described the way each of us have voices that shape us, making us who we are. Some of these are voices from our cellars. From way down deep, they speak to us. They come from generations long past or recent whose voices we didn’t choose, but they are connected to us through our history, our culture, or our gene pool. From the dark cellar we each have, they recite scripts full of oughts and shoulds, expectations, shame, judgment and critique. They are the underground powers that shape us.
In contrast, Marney describes another set of voices—the voices of our balcony people. These are voices we have chosen to speak to us, to mentor and shape us. They are heroes and teachers, living or dead. He said, “They shout and beckon and cheer me on, encourage and shape, and call me out.” We all have our own balcony people. They are the ones who make you who you are. Your trusted ones. Your saints. The ones you look up to, who are watching and cheering as you make your way.
One of my balcony people died this week. A giant in the pulpit, he taught me what a good sermon, and the gospel, sounds like. Listening to him as a young person, I heard God call to me. I know he is in plenty of other balconies, too. On this All Saints’ week, I give thanks for the life, the voice, and the witness of Roland Perdue.
a writing prompt
Who is in your balcony? What voices, from those living or dead, encourage and support, shape and nurture, challenge and call out the best in you?
Marney said, “If you are together, your balcony crowd is holding you together.” Write your own list of those people, with thanksgiving.
