Greeting
We are gathered here to honor the memory of a departed friend, one whose life on earth is finished. We come, however, not to voice despair over the death of the physical body but to express our whole-hearted faith and rejoice that a human soul has embarked on the career of eternal life in the progressive service of the Heavenly Father; not because life is over but because it has risen to more glorious possibilities; not because the darkness has closed in but because life has opened into the eternal morning.
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We'll begin with selections from Psalms on the love of God and the promise of eternal life. There will be a brief pause after each selection for a moment of contemplation.
Psalm 36:5-9 (NRSV)
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
You preserve man and beast, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
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Psalm 62:5-8 (NRSV)
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
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Psalm 23 (KJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul: he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
180:3.4 “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; continue to believe also in me. Even though I must leave you, I will not be far from you. I have already told you that in my Father’s universe there are many tarrying-places. If this were not true, I would not have repeatedly told you about them. I am going to return to these worlds of light, stations in the Father’s heaven to which you shall sometime ascend. From these places I came into this world, and the hour is now at hand when I must return to my Father’s work in the spheres on high.
180:3.5 “If I thus go before you into the Father’s heavenly kingdom, so will I surely send for you that you may be with me in the places that were prepared for the mortal sons of God before this world was. Even though I must leave you, I will be present with you in spirit, and eventually you shall be with me in person when you have ascended to me in my universe even as I am about to ascend to my Father in his greater universe. And what I have told you is true and everlasting, even though you may not fully comprehend it. I go to the Father, and though you cannot now follow me, you shall certainly follow me in the ages to come.”
Please join me in "The Lord's Prayer" (or "The Believer's Prayer")
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Music selections
(The following video is a nice option in lieu of live music.)
Satta Massagana by Antoinette Rootsdawtah … YouTube
Based upon Revelation 22:3-5 and Paper 27:1.5
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Personal Remembrances
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In closing, let us read together the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi:
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
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