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Memorials & Funerals
As a nondemoninational minister, I welcome people from all paths
of life. Whether you are currently without a church "home" or prefer that your loved one be honored in a nonreligious
manner, I will work with you in whatever way you are comfortable.
One of the most challenging aspects of life is when it ends, and
yet endings and beginnings are equally important in the natural order. Birth and death are book ends. What
is important is what has comes between these two place markers. All lives, great or seemingly ordinary, deserve to be
honored and remembered, not so much for the benefit of the deceased, but especially for the loved ones that are
left behind.
While no one
knows for certain what happens after this life ends, there are many different beliefs and ideas across all cultures
and traditions. All faiths and beliefs are valid, including even the lack of a belief. It is
most important to pay tribute to the deceased in ways that are befitting of how they lived their life. We are all
unique. A eulogy should capture the essence of the person, and provide more than just the chronology of their life.
During a consultation with the family, many questions can be answered, such as:
What was important to the individual being honored?
What meant the most to him?
What are the things she loved to do?
What were his greatest achievements?
Even the small things, such as her favorite color, song, or movie?
Together these form the fabric of the life our loved one has lived,
the tapestry of life that is formed by words, feelings, thoughts, and deeds, and his or her interrelationships with others.
The celebration of one's life is a beautiful way to bring comfort and closure to loved ones.
There
are many readings that are appropriate for funeral and memorial services. Here is one of my favorites:
THE SHIP
by Henry Jackson Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads
her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an
object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she is only a speck of white cloud just where the
sea and sky meet and mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side exclaims,
"There, she's gone!"
“Gone where?”
Gone from my sight, that is
all. She is just as large in hull and mast and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when
someone at my side says, “She’s gone,” there are other eyes watching for her coming and other voices ready
to take up the glad shout, “There she comes!”
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