Momerial service 2012
One of the most moving poems that I am sometimes asked to read at a funeral service is the one entitled ‘Remember’, written by Christina Rosetti. It reads like this :-
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land:
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
One of the realities of life is that inevitably we will lose someone we love. Many people will offer words of comfort, many will tell us that it gets easier, and it does, but it doesn’t mean that we ever forget, and neither should it. In remembering we are honouring someone whom we have cared for…, someone who has had a positive influence on our lives
With love, very often comes pain, but I’m sure that nobody who has ever loved someone who has died would sacrifice that love just in order to avoid the pain, because love is so much more powerful than pain.
And in that love we find hope, the sort of hope that encourages us that life is worth living and worth enjoying regardless of the pain, the hope that persuades us to get up each day with some sort of purpose.
In grief we must find the strength to move forward, but that is so much easier said than done… Many people will eventually find that strengthen from the inspiration of the person who has died – knowing that the person would never have wanted their loved one to stop living, others will find it through doing different things, getting involved in clubs or societies, but the most lasting hope, the only really lasting hope, we can have is to trust our loved ones into the eternal care and protection of God who loves unceasingly.
In a reading from the Book of Revelation (21:1-7) we catch a glimpse of the vision of heaven – a place of no tears, no death, no mourning, crying or pain, and a place where God sits with his people. It’s a wonderful vision of peace and contentment, and yet it’s a vision that we often find very difficult to grasp.
In our world today, which is often very cynical and cold, it is so easy to lose sight of the wonder and power of God, who is moving amongst us even now. In his Son Jesus he has shown the depth of his love for us, and he wants us to respond to that love by living our lives with the joy and peace that he desires for us all.
In Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians (4:13-end) he reminds people that God recognises grief, but he doesn’t want people to grieve with no hope – because Jesus lived and died and rose again, God calls people to life, eternal life.
John’s gospel (14:1-6) reminds us that in God’s house there are many dwelling places – places for people everywhere – Jesus has prepared that place and welcomes us – he is the way, the truth and the life…
The vision of heaven, the vision of the kingdom of God, is not just a vision for tomorrow, but a hope for today. One of the great privileges of my job, albeit a very sad one at times, is to speak to people who know they are dying, and invariably those people are filled with courage and with an incredible concern for others. They want the lives of those they care about to be full and joyful, they want those they care about to continue to love and be loved, and in remembering there must be our inspiration.
Because in remembering we are certainly honouring the memory of those we continue to love, but now don’t see face to face, and we are commending them and trusting them into God’s care, but we are also being reminded that life is still for living today, and that strengthened by God’s help, and by the good and valuable memories we have of loved ones we still have living to do and love to give.
And so we pray for the strength to remember and follow the good examples we have, and to trust our loved ones into the wonderful care and protection of God, the love that has no limits and a love that never dies. AMEN
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land:
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
One of the realities of life is that inevitably we will lose someone we love. Many people will offer words of comfort, many will tell us that it gets easier, and it does, but it doesn’t mean that we ever forget, and neither should it. In remembering we are honouring someone whom we have cared for…, someone who has had a positive influence on our lives
With love, very often comes pain, but I’m sure that nobody who has ever loved someone who has died would sacrifice that love just in order to avoid the pain, because love is so much more powerful than pain.
And in that love we find hope, the sort of hope that encourages us that life is worth living and worth enjoying regardless of the pain, the hope that persuades us to get up each day with some sort of purpose.
In grief we must find the strength to move forward, but that is so much easier said than done… Many people will eventually find that strengthen from the inspiration of the person who has died – knowing that the person would never have wanted their loved one to stop living, others will find it through doing different things, getting involved in clubs or societies, but the most lasting hope, the only really lasting hope, we can have is to trust our loved ones into the eternal care and protection of God who loves unceasingly.
In a reading from the Book of Revelation (21:1-7) we catch a glimpse of the vision of heaven – a place of no tears, no death, no mourning, crying or pain, and a place where God sits with his people. It’s a wonderful vision of peace and contentment, and yet it’s a vision that we often find very difficult to grasp.
In our world today, which is often very cynical and cold, it is so easy to lose sight of the wonder and power of God, who is moving amongst us even now. In his Son Jesus he has shown the depth of his love for us, and he wants us to respond to that love by living our lives with the joy and peace that he desires for us all.
In Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians (4:13-end) he reminds people that God recognises grief, but he doesn’t want people to grieve with no hope – because Jesus lived and died and rose again, God calls people to life, eternal life.
John’s gospel (14:1-6) reminds us that in God’s house there are many dwelling places – places for people everywhere – Jesus has prepared that place and welcomes us – he is the way, the truth and the life…
The vision of heaven, the vision of the kingdom of God, is not just a vision for tomorrow, but a hope for today. One of the great privileges of my job, albeit a very sad one at times, is to speak to people who know they are dying, and invariably those people are filled with courage and with an incredible concern for others. They want the lives of those they care about to be full and joyful, they want those they care about to continue to love and be loved, and in remembering there must be our inspiration.
Because in remembering we are certainly honouring the memory of those we continue to love, but now don’t see face to face, and we are commending them and trusting them into God’s care, but we are also being reminded that life is still for living today, and that strengthened by God’s help, and by the good and valuable memories we have of loved ones we still have living to do and love to give.
And so we pray for the strength to remember and follow the good examples we have, and to trust our loved ones into the wonderful care and protection of God, the love that has no limits and a love that never dies. AMEN
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