Through gates of pearl...

We sometimes hear the expression "the pearly gates", often in connection with a joke that mentions Peter and someone seeking entrance to heaven. Today, for All Saints' Day, we sang the hymn For all the saints (words by William W. How) and the line that grabbed my attention this year was in the 8th verse: "...through gates of pearl streams in the countless host..." I think the reason this line stood out to me today is connected to what I witnessed at the women's conference I attended in May. You can read about that here. At the end of the message this morning, each one in the congregation was invited to come forward and light a candle representing someone (a saint = Christian believer) who had influenced them in their spiritual walk in the past. The candle would also represent someone that we hope to influence for Christ. Although we are a small group, it was moving to see each flickering flame and realize that those candles represented a miniscule portion of 'the countless host' - some of whom have gone before and some who will come after us.