The Gulag Archipelago and All Saints’ Day

In volume 1 of The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn tells story after story of Russian citizens who were arrested under false pretenses and who suffered brutal interrogations and cruel sentences at the hands of the Stalinist regime of the Communist Soviet Union.  By some estimates as many as 15 million Russian citizens were arrested and taken from their homes and families in the middle of the night and never seen again.  Families lost fathers, grandfathers, mothers, grandmothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters.  Some lost their lives, and others disappeared into the vast system of Russian prisons and work camps.

            During these years families in Russia set aside a day when they would pull out photographs of their family members who had been taken from them.  Whole communities would gather and put their pictures on the table so they could pray for those who were lost and keep their memory alive.  It was a day of remembrance in the midst of the cruel reality of life in an oppressive place.

            This Sunday at May Memorial we will remember our Christian sisters and brothers who have died and entered the Church Triumphant.  In a symbolic way we will place on the table those who have finished their race on earth and are have now entered their rest and reward.  We do not do this to offer prayers on their behalf, for they are already in the hands of God.  We do this to thank God for their lives, their testimonies, and how they impacted us in our lives of faith.  It is appropriate as Christians that we do this in God’s presence. 

            We also remember that the veil that separates Heaven and earth is very thin when we come together for worship, especially at the Lord’s Table.  We know that our loved ones have not simply ceased to be, but they continue to live in God’s presence.  We look forward to the time that we will all gather in God’s presence in a real way around God’s table.

            Don’t miss worship this Sunday, it will be a moving service in which we remember “whether we live for die, we belong to the Lord, who is Lord both of the living and the dead.”