We seem to give them back to you, dear God, who gave them to us. Yet, as you did not lose them in giving, so we have not lost them by their return. What you give, you do not take away. For what is yours is ours always, if we are yours. And life is eternal and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. Lift us up, O God, that we may see further; cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly; draw us closer to yourself that we may know ourselves nearer to our beloved who are with you. And while your Son has prepared a place for us, prepare us for that happy place, that, where they are and you are, we too may be; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Read at the funeral of John “Jack” Burton Kendrick (1942-2022)
Dear God, I’ve been to a lot of funerals, but there have only been a few instances when something really touched me. In this case, I was at the funeral of a friend today and the priest read this blessing at the end. Thankfully, it was printed in the program so I could capture it here.
The prayer is very poetic. It’s the classic poetry thing of using just a few words to communicate so much. I want to capture some of those phrases here and think/pray about them. Holy Spirit, be with me and counsel me while I do this.
“…you did not lose them in giving…”
This is just one phrase on that whole first part, and the entirety of the second and third sentences are important, but they seem to be built on this idea that life and death are not a zero-sum game. In fact, life is win/win. We gain our loved one. Even if we lose them, they 1.) remain in our hearts and the impact of their life always influences us and 2.) we will have them forever when we return to you. You didn’t lose them when they were on earth. You gave them to earth. And they are never really gone.
“…and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight…”
Yes. Our sight is so, so limited. Even now, I wonder how much I should be positioning my prayers in my heart. To the Father? To the Son? To the Holy Spirit? I guess it makes most sense to pray to the Holy Spirit because he is the counselor with me–the comforter–but Jesus spoke with the Father and he invited us to speak to the Father. But I digress. When it comes to death, we simply don’t understand. I don’t understand My sight cannot see beyond the horizon, but the horizon is established only by my ability to rise above and see clearly through the help of the Holy Spirit.
“And while your Son has prepared a place for us, prepare us for that happy place…”
There’s an Amy Grant song called “In a Little While.” The chorus includes the phrase, “We’re just here to learn to love Him.” To love you. To love you is what it’s about.
Father, recently, I feel like I have unplugged my roots from your stream to some extent. I’m sorry for that. while my “leaves” and “branches” can hold on and look okay for a couple of days, pretty soon I start to see the decay. So I’m very sorry. I’m sorry for pulling my roots away from your nourishment. I’m sorry for allowing thorny or rocky soil to be the soil the Holy Spirit has to try to break through. I’m sorry for my selfishness. And with all of that said, help me to see. Help me to see you. Help me to rest in you. Help me to have access to your wisdom and spiritual nourishment. Help me to love richly.
In Jesus’s name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 