Remembering Dorothy…and all who loved her so much
Text: John 14
It is always such an honour to write a message for the family and their friends at a Celebration of Life, because I am given the blessing of being included in the heart-engaging process of remembering, sharing the grief and the happy memories, of a person whom we have been privileged to know. Thank you, Margaret, for allowing me and everyone present here to claim that privilege. Today, we remember and celebrate the life of Dorothy Naish. Dorothy was a beloved mother, grandmother, teacher, and friend to many people. Dorothy had many interests and talents, (golf, curling, canoeing, travelling, camping, painting) and her broad interests brought many friends from all walks of life into her life. Dorothy was proud to have them all, and joyfully journeyed with us all. Dorothy embraced life’s joys and blessings fully; she never lost the sense that as we connect, we become stronger. She also taught us the importance of virtues such as generosity and charity for the betterment of others.
We celebrate life, not just because of its glory, triumphs, success, but because it shapes what humanity is and how strong it is: in the end, through life experiences, we learn that between the dark and the daylight we encounter the break of dawn, the sunrise of the early morning, fresh dew drops on our feet. Life teaches us that after a storm will come the calm of fair skies. Even after a downpour of rain, we see God’s sign of peace - a rainbow brightening the darkest corner of the sky. Yes, loss, grief and emptiness become an unbearable pain at the unforeseen bends of our life, and death is irrevocable. Nobody should say to you when you suffer, “After all this grief passes, you’ll see hope rising again like the sun, and your life will move on” without offering real and sincere care for this time - when you experience life turning its back on you, cold like winter, frozen, barren, just trees of bare nakedness. The spring birds have hidden themselves. Suddenly we see everyone else has returned to their place, leaving us alone, in need of a warm, heart-felt, connection.
Then a flash of realization strikes our core: if we all are created by God to live life and to love and be loved, this life should still be a gift for us. Not a burden, a curse, or a test. It should be a gift to us. Even now, we should be in God’s and everyone’s hands of care that support our life’s journey, still blossoming and blessing. Even at this time, we still need to accept life’s call to become who we are meant to be. We still need to be assured that we will gain the joy and love that make us dream all the greater, that make us hope for better for the life of others and ourselves. We are all beings who exist and aspire to be accepted, through one love: through the love that is pure, infinite, and vast. God sets no terms for receiving that love. God says, “My forgiveness is endless, my love for you, infinite, my care for you, vast, my compassion, beyond words, so that you may know that you are mine. You are mine. I have called you by your name. I will call you by your name, as you are mine.”
In today’s reading, we hear Jesus say, “In my father’s house, there are my dwelling-places.” When I hear that, I ask myself what kind of house I imagine. Do I imagine a house or a mansion that has many rooms, but like a hotel or an inn that has check-in and check-out systems, where each room is designed and built to ensure privacy and separateness from the others? Or a home where we all are equally beloved family members, warmly invited to come and gather at the table and have a meal together. We just need to be ourselves, nothing else, and we are supposed to feel the warmth of each other, not coldness, not indifference. In the home of God, it is crystal clear that there’s no condition other than that we will be united with one another through ONE love, one BIG love. All will be entitled to that perfect love! That the Father’s house has many rooms doesn’t mean that God gives different kinds or different levels of love to those who are asked to come and stay in different rooms: This, 90 % love to Susan in the blue room. That, 67 % love to Graham in the green room. The love of God is the love that has only one kind, one fullness, one completeness, one vastness. It is the love that forgives, that accepts, that endures, that hopes, that not only hugs momentarily and say kind words, but that confesses the eternal love that does not change, but makes room for all of us who receive this love.
This moment, today, and many many days, months, years after today, we remember and will remember, celebrate, and shed tears of grief and gladness for all who have been so precious and left us so much to be grateful for. Dorothy’s life was a seed that held a tree, which has been planted, grown, blossomed, and will continue to stand among us and lend shade and fruit to those who need its blessings. Life travels with us through time; in awe, we exclaim how precious, how starkly beautiful and strong each one’s life is! May we all remember and bless our life as a gift, an awesome gift that the whole cosmos through eons of time has created for us. Until we all gather at the shining river of God’s place, at the eternal realm that consoles and embraces every soul, may we be blessed by faith, hope, love, knowing that the greatest is love. Rest in the deep peace of Christ, Dorothy. We will meet again.
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