Post by Dave on Feb 3, 2008 9:09:10 GMT -5
Waxing philosophical this frosty winter's morning...
(Dave is wearing a suit and tie, takes the podium, adjusts the microphone, and looks out at the assembled congregation.)
"Tomorrow, we'll think about the life of Karen Carpenter, or more accurately, its ending. While learning of a life from a death is certainly valid, especially if you actually take the lessons learned to heart and make them part of your life, the thought crosses my mind that perhaps there is more to be learned.
My wife had an aunt who was a nun. When she passed on, the entire family headed to her funeral, sad that Sister Grace was gone from our eyes. What we found was quite amazing to us all, and quite alien to anyone who has never experienced a funeral in the religious community. Religious folks consider the separation of soul from body to be their real "birth" day.
Instead of sadness, all of Sister Grace's colleagues were quite jubilant. The funeral service itself was quite uplifting, because instead of sadness, there were bright flowers. The nuns sang happy songs, songs of the joy that they experience at finally being released from this mortal coil and going home to meet the Lord.
After the initial shock wore off, we found it impossible to be sad, and soon we all were sharing in the emotions of joy that the nuns were giving to us.
I remembered that day this morning, as the Sun shines upon a landscape colored white with winter's frost.
Although it sometimes seems endless, the winter will give way to spring. Winter is not the season of death, but instead it is the season when the Earth rests in anticipation of the coming season of life. The blankets of white serve to erase from our memories what once was, to erase the canvas of life for the greatest artist in the Universe to once again take brush in hand.
Tomorrow morning, we'll call our favorite local radio stations and remind the morning DJ of the events that took place so long ago, and oh so far away. 25 years ago, a quarter-century, and yet everytime we reach this point in Earth's trip around the Sun, it's yesterday once more.
If it's true that someone's never really gone as long as we remember them, then Karen never really left us...only her mortal body. She lives on in our hearts.
So today, when you go home and listen to your favorite Carpenters songs, don't be sad, instead, be happy because like Sister Grace, Karen's been safe in the arms of the Lord for 25 years now."
(steps away from the microphone and sits down...)
(Dave is wearing a suit and tie, takes the podium, adjusts the microphone, and looks out at the assembled congregation.)
"Tomorrow, we'll think about the life of Karen Carpenter, or more accurately, its ending. While learning of a life from a death is certainly valid, especially if you actually take the lessons learned to heart and make them part of your life, the thought crosses my mind that perhaps there is more to be learned.
My wife had an aunt who was a nun. When she passed on, the entire family headed to her funeral, sad that Sister Grace was gone from our eyes. What we found was quite amazing to us all, and quite alien to anyone who has never experienced a funeral in the religious community. Religious folks consider the separation of soul from body to be their real "birth" day.
Instead of sadness, all of Sister Grace's colleagues were quite jubilant. The funeral service itself was quite uplifting, because instead of sadness, there were bright flowers. The nuns sang happy songs, songs of the joy that they experience at finally being released from this mortal coil and going home to meet the Lord.
After the initial shock wore off, we found it impossible to be sad, and soon we all were sharing in the emotions of joy that the nuns were giving to us.
I remembered that day this morning, as the Sun shines upon a landscape colored white with winter's frost.
Although it sometimes seems endless, the winter will give way to spring. Winter is not the season of death, but instead it is the season when the Earth rests in anticipation of the coming season of life. The blankets of white serve to erase from our memories what once was, to erase the canvas of life for the greatest artist in the Universe to once again take brush in hand.
Tomorrow morning, we'll call our favorite local radio stations and remind the morning DJ of the events that took place so long ago, and oh so far away. 25 years ago, a quarter-century, and yet everytime we reach this point in Earth's trip around the Sun, it's yesterday once more.
If it's true that someone's never really gone as long as we remember them, then Karen never really left us...only her mortal body. She lives on in our hearts.
So today, when you go home and listen to your favorite Carpenters songs, don't be sad, instead, be happy because like Sister Grace, Karen's been safe in the arms of the Lord for 25 years now."
(steps away from the microphone and sits down...)
