HOMELESS Memorial Manual
SAMPLES: Sermons, Poems, and Illustrations
Funeral Poem – from WI St Journal (8-13-07)
We thought of you with love today, But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday And days before that too.
We think of you in silence, We often speak your name.
All we have are memories And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake, With which we’ll never part.
God has you in his keeping But we have you in our hearts.
(author unknown)
Life is but a stopping place, a pause in what’s to be,
A resting place along the road, to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys, different paths along the way,
We all were meant to learn some things, but never meant to stay. ANON. -cont-
Poem: At the Death of a Child
Daddy please don’t look so sad. Mommy please don’t cry
‘Cause I’m in the arms of Jesus, and He sings me lullabies.
Please try not to question God, Don’t think He is unkind
Don’t think he sent me to you, and then He changed his mind.
You see I am a special child, And I’m needed up above
I’m the special gift you gave Him, the product of your love.
When you see a child playing, And your heart feels a little tug,
That’s me I’ll be there, Giving your heart a little hug.
So daddy don’t look so sad, And mommy don’t you cry,
I’m in the arms of Jesus and He sings me lullabies.
(author unknown)
An ILLUSTRATION:
Henry Scott Holland, compared dying to the sailing of a ship. He says,
“I am standing on the seashore.
A ship spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts out for - the blue ocean and - a distant shore.
I stand watching her as she fades, then she finally disappears on the horizon.
Someone beside me says, ‘She is gone.’ Gone? Where? Gone from my sight, that is all.
Just at the moment when someone here says, ‘She is gone’ –
– there are others who are waiting and watching for her coming.
Over THERE, other voices are ready to take up the glad shout, ‘Here she comes’.”
So too, I IMAGINE it was that way, for _name_.
Just as it was on that night 2000 years ago, when Jesus crossed the sea with his disciples, it was not very far across … NOR … did it take very long. – Continued -
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~Anon
“Life guarantees a CHANCE – NOT a FAIR SHAKE.” (Bernie Y ~ in AA)
Life is not fair. Most of us know that, but few of us accept it. Something in us often clings to the idea that ultimately, the gifts will all be evenly divided. Mostly we want to be paid back for the injustices of the past. Many of us expect – no, demand – redress from fate. We think life should “make it up” to us somehow. That’s why it’s so hard for us to go on discovering, again and again, what we already know: LIFE IS NOT FAIR.
The good job that should have been ours, the accident that crippled a loved one, unwanted childlessness – these things ~ among so many other things / injustices ~ are not fair. But life is like soil, not like seed. The chance of a harvest is there, but only if we plant the seed. And even then we may not get the harvest we expected or wished for – not on our own timetable. It is an act of faith, and of great courage, to keep on sowing seeds when we don’t know what we’re going to get. But it’s the only chance we have. We need to stop expecting the soil to provide the seed.
“Today’s Gift” - June 18, 2011 Hazelden Foundation (MN)
from: Days of Healing, Days of Joy, By Earnie Larsen & Carol Larsen Hegarty
Another “Ship” Illustration: (Ralph Sockman)
There are parts of a ship which taken by themselves would sink. The engine would sink. The propellor would sink. But, when the parts of the ship are built together, they FLOAT.
So too with the events of my life. Some events have been tragic. Some have been happy. But when they are built together (assembled / woven together) they form a craft that Floats ~ and is going someplace. And I am comforted!
Alice Munro: “Even if you’re racked by troubles, and sick and poor and ugly, you’ve [still] got your soul to carry through life like a treasure on a platter.” {The Progress of Love (Knopf)}
DON’T QUIT (by Edgar Albert Guest)
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit ~
Rest if you must, but don’t you QUIT. …continued…
TAPS (two of numerous, other, unofficial verses)
Day is done, Gone the sun,
From the hills, From the lakes, From the sky.
All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.
Go to sleep, Peaceful sleep,
May the soldier, Or the sailor Our God keep.
On the land, or the deep, safe in sleep.
A Reflection:
Is anybody happier, because you passed their way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to them today?
This day is almost over, And its toiling time is through!
Is there anyone to utter now, A friendly word of you?
Can you say tonight in passing, With the day that slipped so fast-
That you helped a single person, Of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing, Over what you did or said?
Does one whose hopes are fading, Now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day or lose it, Was it well or poorly spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness, Or a scar of discontent?
Anon – as seen in Holy Smoke newsletter, Pentecost LC, Milwaukee, WI
REFLECTION POINTS for CONTEMPLATION
Notes from a “breakfast meeting” w/ Rabbi Harold Kushner – Kansas City, 1992: These are my notes and impressions of his Remarks (not necessarily verbatim – but close?).
• Note the title of his book: “WHEN Bad Things Happen…” – not IF and not WHY…
• We were never intended to “live forever” ~ mortality gives life meaning too.
• Deadlines force us to take life seriously [have a sense of urgency].
• Death is divine punishment for the Genesis “Fall”.
• As punishment, then we are “responsible” for our own death – rather than merely “helpless” (as victimized or random recipients).
• When it is a result of a mistake or accident, you can be outraged (and some people feel guilty about that). …CONTINUED…
Why do Bad Things Happen?
Why do we persist in believing that bad things happen for a REASON?
“It is tempting at one level to believe that bad things happen to people (especially other people) because God is a righteous judge who gives them what they deserve. By believing that, we keep the world orderly and understandable.” (Rabbi Harold Kushner)
It is hard to live with the idea that things happen to people for NO Reason; that God has lost touch with the world, and nobody is in the driver’s seat. So, we try to salvage a view of God and God’s orderly world. Then we try to explain-away Misfortunes…as in: Misfortune occurs because: a) Someone made a mistake, or failed in the observance of some religious duty; OR b) God has a hidden purpose, or is making use of knowledge we don’t have; OR c) Suffering itself will turn out to be good for us; OR d) God’s purpose is in the grand design of the Universe (which is good and beautiful), [but] not in the life of this individual; OR e) Suffering teaches something ~ either to us or to those who see us suffer; OR f) Suffering is a test.
Rabbi Kushner rejects each of these explanations – because each response assumes God is the “cause” of our suffering – so we try to understand / explain why God would want us to suffer.
Kushner suggests four other “reasons” for suffering:
• Suffering is random & circumstantial (viz: being in the wrong place at the wrong time).
• Suffering is caused by the workings of natural law.
• Suffering is caused by the actions of evil people.
• Suffering we cause ourselves by the way we handle our initial suffering.
Source: Rabbi Kushner ~ through lens of Brett Blair (March, 2001)
Someone else has said words to this effect:
“Blaming God for tragedies betrays a Desire / HOPE to think that someone is “in control” of the universe, and that we are not merely subject to random, destructive acts.” Anon
VARIOUS SERMONS and MESSAGES for “Starters”
Pick a Passage or Reading to supplement / reinforce your Theme
Sermon: For a TROUBLED PERSON
“Lord God, my savior, I cry out all day, and at night I come before you. Hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help! So many troubles have fallen on me that I am close to death. I am like all others who are about to die; all my strength is gone…I am closed in and cannot escape; my eyes are weak from suffering. Lord, every day I call to you and lift my hands to you in prayer.” (Ps 88)
Yes, doesn’t it seem = some people have more than their share of Troubles?
It appears this person in Psalm 88 is ONE SUCH person.
As her life comes to an end, she sighs a big sigh & says:
“so many troubles have fallen on my soul.”
_Name_ knew MANY TROUBLES in her life TOO… Some because of living through the Great Depression. Some because she was a homeless [woman, a wife, a mother, and a worker].
Don’t kid yourself ~ man or woman, rich or poor, young or old…
LIFE is a constant BATTLE; it is NOT a GAME, it IS LIKE A WAR.
It is a WAR against the powers and principalities of EVIL in this imperfect world… …CONTINUED…
Funeral Sermon ~ A Shadow of Death & Veil of Tears…with Hope
Death has cast its shadow over our Valley again.
It comes as an Intruder, as an Enemy ~ as it has robbed you of a friend.
But Death has also come as an Angel of Mercy – for _name_’s health was deteriorating and he was ready to join his __(name’s or relationships) in God’s Eternal Kingdom.
So ~ as Death casts its shadow on us again, we come to this place
to give to our Lord Jesus “all our sins and griefs to bear.”
Does feeling GRIEF at such a time as this MEAN we are weak or Spiritually Immature?
NO ~ we CAN celebrate and shed a tear at the same time. …CONTINUED…
Funeral Sermon: Losses May Teach Us
We are here today to bring our loss and grief and sadness before God…
as we are here to give _name_’s hand over to God – and to celebrate his life.
This is your last chance to say your:
Thank yous, Sorrys, and I Forgive yous,. Your: I Love yous & your Goodbyes… …CONTINUED…
Funeral Sermon: “Faith & Endurance… Into Kingdom Come”
It seems, and is significant, that those we admire most in life are
those with dignity & perseverance.
We can learn from them about ENDURANCE and about FAITH.
Some have walked through the Valleys & on the Hilltops of Life, through the good times & bad,
…and through them all ~ they Endured [and had Faith].
Though some of the ‘joy of life’ was sucked from them by hardships & deaths, they endured them.
Somehow their Faith overcame the darkness around them. …CONTINUED…
Funeral Sermon: VASCO De GAMA, Adventurer / Explorer
For everything that changes…things still & essentially remain the same…
AND…one thing that does NOT Change is = DEATH. It remains…and is not Merciful.
Death waits at the Door for the Old…and it ambushes the Young. (Bernard of Clairvaux)
No, DEATH has ALWAYS been around. BUT ~
…the One, NEW THING that DOES CHANGE everything else is = RESURRECTON.
Easter, with its proclamation of Resurrection to Eternal Life,
OVERTURNS, CHALLENGES and RE-CASTS all the other lessons
we learned in school & Life…about HOW the world works, and what Reality IS.
That CHANGE is more REVOLUTIONARY than the one discovered by VASCO Da GAMA
about 1500 AD…as a Portuguese explorer. …CONTINUED…
“NEW CLOTHES” Funeral Sermon - {Images by Pr Mitchell Bass}
A man, down on his luck, was befriended by a pastor who invited him to his church. The beggar man declined – because he didn’t have any nice clothes for church.
So the pastor bought him a used suit, shirt, tie and shoes at “Goodwill” with the beggar’s assurance that he would be in church THIS Sunday.
But the pastor missed seeing him at church that next Sunday. When he found the man later that week, he asked him, “Why didn’t you come to church on Sunday?” The beggar said: “I did go to church. But when I got dressed, I looked so good ~ I went to the Episcopal church instead.”
Indeed, there’s something nice about a new suit – even just a set of new or clean clothes make us feel different. You can even feel better about yourself too…in new clothes ~ when you present a different, more striking image. ….CONTINUED…
Funeral SERMON: Luke 13:1-5 “Any Worst Sinners?”
When someone passes away so quickly and quietly, as _name_ passed on _day_,
people will wonder if it was a blessing or a curse / a gift or a punishment?
We want to READ INTO such stuff – to find a “meaning” ~ make of it some “sign”.
Was this something to envy – or something to dread? What is the “lesson”?
People wondered the same things 2000 years ago.
People ~ whether we live in the 21st century or those who lived in the 1st century ~
Wondered and Asked the same questions then too.
Our Gospel Lesson is a case in point.
Two thousand years ago – some people came to tell Jesus about two tragedies. …CONTINUED…
FUNERAL SERMON: {in EASTER SEASON}
Death is hard to handle, isn’t it. We try to “play death down.” But it’s frightening.
BUT, playing down death is hard BECAUSE WE’RE SURROUNDED by it.
Everywhere we turn we are REMINDED of it.
Pick up the newspaper … Turn on the TV…
A shooting at a concert or rally, a fatal car crash we pass by.
Drive around town and you’re bound to pass a cemetery, all reminders.
Death is all around us – there’s no denying it or avoiding it. …CONTINUED…
Funeral: When life “breaks into many pieces”
John 16: selected verses (16-17a, 19-20, 22)
“…you will cry and weep…you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into gladness… that no one can take from you.”
Each death is a LOSS in some way. Each death has its own SADNESS and TEARS as well. And each death is even TRAGIC – in some way great or small…
…BECAUSE each of us is UNIQUE ~ a Unique Gift [from God].
So WE GATHER together today to remember ____…and to celebrate her/his life with you for varying spans of time and in various settings.