In the past several weeks, it seems that I've been writing about the deaths of an unusual number of people from my various communities. First there was blogger friend,
Kirstin. Then there was another blogger friend,
Göran. Then there was
Frank, David@Montreal's cousin, for whom we prayed for a number of years. Next, Tim Chesterton's friend,
Joe, husband and father of four. And then, the boy,
Jori, from my own town, brutally murdered by his father. I probably don't have the list in the proper order, but death seems all around. I realize that death is always all around, that death is a part of life, but when so many come within a relatively short period, it tends to overwhelm.
I'm so very grateful for the Episcopal Church's
Book of Common Prayer, with its treasure trove of prayers for those who have died and for those who grieve. I can't think how I would write about the deaths without the comfort the prayers give to me, and, I hope, to others.
Thank you Mimi.
ReplyDeleteIn the small village where I live in Central America the people who die are actually shoulder carried in their coffin from home (after a all night vigil) to the church in the square for mass and then onward to the cemetery on the far edge of town. Usually there is a brass band following the walking procession that plays mournful music.
When I first moved here six+ years ago I felt so terribly sad everytime the procession went by my door (especially when the coffins were little white ones for children)...later, I started embracing the beauty of the ¨passing¨ and greatly admired the small outpouring of friends and family who escorted, dressed in black, their very own loved ones to the grave...here we also celebrate the Day of the Dead in November and families literally visit graves, take food, family and friends so all can be together on this favorite day--children fly kites so they can send greetings and messages of love up into the heavens...the reality and eternal vastness of it all is a blessing for me to behold.
Mimi, I was surprised to learn, during CPE back in my younger years, how enthusiastic two Conservative Jewish rabbinical students in my group were about the BCP. They loved the fact that it had so many prayers for so many occasions.
ReplyDeleteSome of those prayers are getting a workout these days. I've had more funerals at my church in a short spell than at any time since my coming there. Add to that Göran and the others... it is piling up.
Yet God gives us strength to endure. Peace, dear friend...
I guess sometimes it happens that way, Mimi, that there seem to be a sudden rush of deaths, just as sometimes loads of people you know seem to be expecting or having children, or getting married, or whatever. It is sad. What can I say? ((((((Mimi)))))
ReplyDeleteTobias, I thought of clergy as I wrote my post - how difficult it must be when funerals come in quick succession. It's good to know some of our Jewish friends appreciate the prayer book, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks all of you for the kind words.
Amen Grandmere. Amen.
ReplyDeleteDeath reminds me of a college friend who a long, long time ago told me of her dieing mother and said that she belived in Aslan altho not in Christ but wanted an Episcopalian service because it recognized the importance of death.
ReplyDeleteIn Durango we have had too many deaths as well (Saint Peggy, for one) -- but perhaps its not a bad thing
The saints who have passed on pray for us, which is a good thing, but I miss those I know.
ReplyDeleteThe tiny little parish where Marci and I lived when we were first married has had six deaths in the past two years - out of a Sunday congregation of around forty. Of course, it's a small rural church with mainly older people, but we make sure to go back every year now because we never know...
ReplyDeleteWhen I packed to fly from Michigan to California in September 2007 for what I knew would be the deathwatch for my mom (she had end-stage ALS), I made a point to pack my BCP. I knew it had the prayers I would need to say "At Time Of Death."
ReplyDelete...and indeed, I did just that. I had gone to bed about an hour, when one of the two hospice nurses (they were just switching shifts) woke me from a light sleep, to say "Mrs Fisher has passed." My dad, the two nurses (one didn't have to stay, but she chose to, and both participated) and I gathered around my mom's body, and I led the "Depart, O Christian Soul" prayers.
I was so thankful to have that ritual to hang onto. TBTG (and TEC) for the BCP.
I too am feeling death all around. First my dear David, then two people at chuch who needed to be hurried and worrying how long we will have my friend Anne with her stage IV lung cancer.
ReplyDeleteA Prysbertarian minister said to me after David's memorial how much he liked the BCP. It got me through the dying and helped the neighbor girls who watched the ambulance take him away. Like JCF the ritual was important for me since I was alone there.
I love the prayer book.
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