I have this annoying tendency: I like to know how things are going to end. When my husband and I watch a movie or show based on a true story, I’m constantly looking up the real-life events—who did what, how did everything turn out, and where are they now? I’m always at risk of needing a “spoiler alert.”
As we celebrate All Saints and All Souls Sunday—a day to honor Christians throughout history and remember those we’ve lost in our own church community this year—it feels fitting to take a glimpse at the end of God’s story.
Revelation 21 offers a “spoiler” about how it all concludes. Here’s the big reveal: God’s story doesn’t actually end. The chapter describes a world where God will wipe away every tear and live among humanity forever. There will be no more pain or sorrow, only eternal life with God. It’s a vision of cosmic hope, and it’s our promise as believers.
All. Will. Be. Well.
What’s beautiful, though, is that this new creation isn’t just a distant reality—it’s unfolding here and now, in us. We’re part of God’s ongoing story, joined across generations with those who came before us and those who will come after. This is what the communion of saints is about: it’s not just a memory or a future hope, but a present reality.
When we gather in worship, we’re spiritually connected with believers across time.
The idea of the communion of saints has always resonated deeply with me, especially since losing my older brother in a tragic accident just before I started high school. I remember being comforted by John Donne’s poem, Death, Be Not Proud, which echoes the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting?” Those words reminded me that, through Christ, we are part of an eternal story where death doesn’t have the last word.
We don’t pray to or through the saints, but we pray with them. Every believer who has gone before us, and those who will come after, are spiritually with us in our prayers and our faith journey. This unity is a gift from God, who calls us into a life of holiness and righteousness. Being holy means being set apart for God, and being righteous means living in right relationship with God—seeking justice, mercy, and compassion for ourselves and our neighbors.
Today, as I remember the saints who have lit the path before me, I also remember that I’m invited to carry forward their legacy. It’s my turn to live with courage and faith, knowing that I’m part of a story with no ending—a story where God makes all things new. That’s the ultimate “spoiler”: we belong to a love that transcends time, where, in the end, all will be well.