In 2004, science fiction author David Mitchell released his novel “Cloud Atlas”. In 2012, it was turned into a film by the same name. The book received great reception, and even Bill Gates even included it in his list of must reads. Cloud Atlas is story of reincarnation, and redemption. It is highly complex novel, with 6 interwoven stories that span time and space. David Mitchell describes is own book as follows:
“Literally all of the main characters, except one, are reincarnations of the same soul in different bodies throughout the novel identified by a birthmark ... that's just a symbol really of the universality of human nature. The title itself Cloud Atlas, the cloud refers to the ever changing manifestations of the Atlas, which is the fixed human nature which is always thus and ever shall be. So the book's theme is predacity, the way individuals prey on individuals, groups on groups, nations on nations, tribes on tribes. So I just take this theme and in a sense reincarnate that theme in another context …”
I find Mitchell’s own description is a dark one. I think it misses the redemption that is also very present in each of these stories, if incomplete. Human nature does have recurring patterns of greed, abuse, and murder; but it also has repeating instances of humans fighting for justice. And the stories Mitchell created each have an example of justice being sought, and hope being given.
The central character in one of these stories is Sonmi-45, a human clone & slave-worker. Her entire life is meant to be spent at a fast food restaurant in a post-apocalyptic Korea. With the helps of others, she escapes and becomes aware both of her servitude and oppression forced upon her by others. She is ultimately arrested & executed as a threat to the corporate state that rules her time. Yet before she dies, she recounts her story to an archivist. As part of this she says the following:
“Our lives are not our own; from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness we birth our future.”
Now I do not share Mitchhell’s dark worldview, nor do I believe in incarnation. But I have found this quote speaks to me, and to our Christian understanding of redemption. I have found that it speaks to the interconnectedness that we understand as Christians to those who have gone before us, those who are now, and those who will come after.
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints’, which actually falls on November 1st. It is followed by its companion Feast of All Souls’. Through these two feasts we remember and celebrate the lives of all those who have gone before us…. Those we know, and those we do not know; those whose names are recorded in history, and those whose names are lost; those who are famous and those who are forgotten.
The origin of these feasts is a bit murky. The early church did celebrate the lives of martyrs, those who gave their life for the Christian Faith. This was made official in 609 by Pope Boniface IV, who declared a celebration of all martyrs on May 13th. In the 800’s, Churches in Ireland, England and Bavaria began to hold a celebration of the lives of all Saints’ on or around November 1st. By the 9th century this had become official in the realms ruled by the Frankish king Charlemagne, and spread through all of the Western Church within a couple of centuries.
In the Celtic world, this Feast seems to have been an adaptation of the Celtic Samhain festival. This was a harvest festival that marked the beginning of the darker time of the year. Cattle was brought down from summer fields, sheep were slaughtered to be frozen for the winter, and grains were stored. And in the midst of all of this, thanksgiving was given for the bounties of the warmer months.
In the Celtic world, this festival was also a liminal time. Celts believed that the veil that separated the worlds of the living and the dead was very thin. And in this liminal time of year, this thin veil became somewhat porous. Ancient gods, faeries, and the dead were believed to come across and bring a bit of havoc to the living. The living sought to appease these spirits by leaving out food & drink, lighting bonfires, and even dressing up in costumes.
The church used this pre-existing festival and turned it into a celebration of those who have died, and were not with God. Though adaption of this feast, the church used its traditions to teach the faithful about the promise of Christ’s salvation. This liminal time of year became a celebration of our connectedness to the faithful who have gone before us.
This connection between the living and the dead was understood throughout Christianity, long before the adaptation of the Celtic festival. In the first couple of centuries of Christianity, The church established a practice of celebrating Eucharist on the tombs of saints and martyrs. This practice evolved into the tradition of placing relics of saint in the altars of churches. Placing relics in altars is still the practice in Roman Catholic Church, and of Anglican churches in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. It is a reminder that when we celebrate the Eucharist, we believe that we are connected to the faithful in every generation. Eucharist is an eschatalogical act, connecting us with the end of time when all will be gathered at God’s feast. Having a physical remnant of a holy saint, a saint believed to be in the presence of God, helps us understand that connection between the living and the dead.
All of this speaks to the Christian hope of redemption. We believe that life does not end with death. We believe there is hope of salvation, and that we are still connected with those who have gone before. It is at the heart of the Eucharist, it is at the heart of Christian hope. It is at the heart of Jesus’ promise.
But that connection isn’t simply about our interconnectedness with the dead. We believe that we, as the Church, are part of God’s endeavor of redemption. Through the Church, God is redeeming the broken world. Through us the world is transformed… hope is given, justice is sought, peace is made. This is us, as the Church, sembodying that which Jesus speaks in the eatitudes… the blessings and “woes” we have just heard from Luke. The Church, across time and space, at its best, lifts up the lowly, feeds the hungry, loves the reviled, serves the poor, and embraces the stranger.
As we celebrate this day those we no longer see, remember those who have died whose names we know, and give thanks for the countless ones whose names are not known, let us remember that we are connected in ways we cannot fathom. Let us remember that the works of our hands, however small they might seem, are part of God’s much larger plan. Let us give thanks for the saints in every generation who have served God in their lives, and pray that we might do the same.
“Our lives are not our own; from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness we birth our future.”