I have refused to live locked in the orderly house of reasons and proofs. The world I live in and believe in is wider than that. And anyway, what's wrong with Maybe? You wouldn't believe what once or twice I have seen. I'll just tell you this: only if there are angels in your head will you ever, possibly, see one. -Mary Oliver-

One of my favourite Netflix binges is Shtisel, a three-season series about a Haredi Jewish family.

Throughout the series, the main characters are often found having conversations with their passed on relatives as they each wrestle with the grief and loss. In the last scene of the final season Shulem pieces all of these scenes together in one beautiful sentiment:

Bashevis… There's one thing he understood. He wrote a beautiful thing: the dead don’t go anywhere. Every man is a cemetery…an actual cemetery, in whom lie all our grandmothers and grandfathers; the Father and mother, the wife, the child. Everyone is here all the time. Do you understand? 

As he says this, the camera slides back and we see all the characters who have passed into unknown rest, sitting and eating and communing with them.

Deeply moved, I watched this scene several times.

Before this film, I believed I was a minority in the world of engaging my imagination with those who have passed on to the other side, except of course for those mediums we've been told to stay away from.

But here, my own experience was being named. Post-film, I’ve discovered that I may not be alone in this. In just that in our age, one would come across as being a bit of a special bird if they talked about this too openly.

Except with good friends, who love you because you are that special bird.

Last spring I had good friends visiting from out of town, and while we were cleaning up the kitchen, one friend said, do you ever talk to people who've died? I do, he said, I was just talking to *** (shared acquaintance) in my kitchen the other day.

Funny you should say so, I reply, I've also had a conversation with him in my kitchen...

Here again, I discovered I am not alone in enaging my imagination in this way.

Thus, my confession. I will sometimes have tea in my kitchen with all my aunties around me. They build me up, encourage me and give me advice. On my birthday I enter the kitchen with shouts of happy birthday with all of them standing around my kitchen island.

These imaginative moments can be both irritating and endearing depending on your sense of humour, such as when I’m trying to write and I have these passed-on scholars on my couch, whose work I am reading and attempting to unpack. Wink is prominently there, sleeves rolled up, nudging me to get to this thing finished. I have to tell him to sit back down and point out that when he was trying to write he didn’t have to attend to littles asking for snacks every seven seconds. Or, the moments when I'm in a writing flow and I can look over my shoulder and say this is beautiful! Brilliant! And, also what did you mean by this?"

Then in those moments of grief over the world, I look over at each of them sitting on my couch (usually eight or so are prominently there) and commit again to making sure their work does not go to waste. Just recently when I needed encouragement I saw the newly passed-on biblical scholar Dr. Gordon Fee standing on my coffee table shouting, Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not!  

So, are our passed-on ones resting in paradise without a thought of us otherwise? In reality, we will never know the answer to this mystery until the day we pass on. Yet in all of Jesus' kingdom of God and heaven language, the Bible does give some indication of the connection between the two realms of the living and the dead.

The connection between All Saints Day and Heaven

The hymn written for this day is titled For all the Saints who labour from their rest. The order of thought in each verse understands the emphasis that New Testament authors place on life after death.

Biblical scholar N.T Wright points this out about the hymn:

After celebrating the life of the saints in the opening verses; our communion with them in the 4th; and their strengthening of us in the 5th, the 6th verse speaks of our joining with them in their present abode, which is not the final resting place but rather the intermediate place of rest, joy, and refreshment for which one name is paradise. Which leads to the triumphant final verse, arriving at last in the New Jerusalem. 

Therefore, Wright continues, heaven is not our future destiny, but its a picture of our present reality; the heavenly dimension of our present life. It's the hidden dimension of our ordinary life, God’s dimension, if you like.

All Hallow's Eve

How does this connect to All Saints Day? All Saints Day began from a tradition that originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts (October 31st). Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

Yet, in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III turned this tradition on its head and instead, designated November 1 as a time to honour all saints and martyrs. Soon, All Saints Day eventually incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

In the Celtic myth the boundaries of the living and the dead are blurred. Yet, All Saints Day reminds us that in the way of Jesus, we don't need to fear the unknown realm of the dead. Instead, we honour and remember those who have gone before us.

The great lie of those who play in the dark realm today is that we need to go through them if we want to talk to our loved ones again.

Thus, in the quiet, perhaps when you are just waking up, walking your dog, or sitting with a hot cuppa, and you decide to chat with a passed-on one, remember that you are not entertaining childish notions of false hope, nor are you practicing the dark arts. Rather, you are engaging faith, hope and love in places that, for now, only your imagination can take you.

For some, it is a wonderful remedy to relieve the burden of loneliness, the crushing pain of loss or a need for closure.

Happy All Saints Day, special birds.  

Suggested Guidelines

We are not claiming any truths about this practice or what we hear in these listening moments, such as, ”the passed-on one told me this..” ...in fact, one perhaps ought to be keeping these imaginative listening moments to oneself or among good friends. These moments are for you, and perhaps a good friend, but not for anyone else.

Second, these are not real voices we are listening for. If you do hear real voices, please see someone about this.

Third, listen for the voice of love. If these imaginative listening moments do not edify or comfort you, then I suggest you abstain from entertaining your imagination in this way.

References

Wright, N.T, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church

Silliman, Daniel; Christianity Today, Died: Gordon Fee, Who Taught Evangelicals to Read the Bible ‘For All Its Worth: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/october/gordon-fee-obit-bible-reading-worth-fire-pentecostal.html

All saints day Hymn, written by William Walsham How, For all the Saints who labour from their rest: https://hymnary.org/text/for_all_the_saints_who_from_their_labors

Shtisel youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jle3FoFCpM

Photo: https://vertigomag.co.uk/film/27-facts-about-shtisel-season-3

Suggested Reading

Rohr, Richard, Keeping Faith with our Ancestors: Part of One Body: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/part-of-one-body-2022-11-01/

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