This week we celebrate All Saints Day.  What is All Saints Day you ask?  A day when we remember, reflect, and give respect to those people in our lives, who have died, yet in life helped to shape us, feed us, nurture us, encourage us and just downright love us.  You don’t have to be a follower of Jesus to understand how important having special people in our lives helped us to be who we wouldn’t be otherwise, go where we couldn’t have gone without them, and perhaps succeed where we may have surely failed.  These people were not just placed in our lives by mere coincidence or happenstance.  To be sure, it was a part of God’s plan and purpose for us whether we embrace that fact or not.  It has been said by others that in a society full of selfishness, we have lost our ability to be grateful.  “We deserve it after all.”  I dare say that we don’t deserve much of what we have, because we didn’t get it all by ourselves.  Others helped us along the way, and it is on their shoulders that we stand.  So take a few minutes this week and remember those who have gone on from this life, but have left an indelible mark on yours.  How might your life have been different without them?  Do you live with a heart of gratitude for who they were?  Pray these four steps:

1.  Listen to your heart.

2.  List each person by name.

3.  Let God know your gratitude.

4.  Live to touch someone else’s life.

Tim Beck is pastor of Kenbridge United Methodist Church. His email address is revtimbeck@gmail.com.