a prophetic voice-

My sister, Kathy, died on Thursday, Feb. 25th, after a final six-week ending to her journey with cancer. She never would permit anyone to use the language of "fighting cancer", "battling cancer", or being "at war with cancer", since all of these terms connoted a violence to her which was simply not in keeping with who she was and what she believed. She felt that it put one's own body in conflict with itself, and she needed all of her body's forces to be aligned and united in this day-to-day journey she faced and walked with beauty and grace and determination for nearly four years.      My other sister, Susan, my daughter, Hope, Kathy's best friend, Debby, and I had the privilege and joy- oxymoronic as that may sound- of helping to care for her during those weeks, along with her wonderful, caring, and dedicated husband, Larry, her precious son, Wren, and his lovely girlfriend, Carolyn. Together, we formed a small community o...

I have been surrounded by death these past couple of weeks, with three of our residents at the Lutheran Home dying in close succession. And this evening, I am quite emotionally exhausted after attending 3 funerals in as many days...only to find that another one of our residents seems to be nearing the end. More on that later... Over the years, I have attended and officiated at innumerable funerals and I am biased enough to admit that I believe the Lutheran funeral service is quite beautiful and very meaningful... and I have received comments to that effect by non-Lutheran attendees at many of the funerals I have been privileged to conduct. None of the three this week were Lutheran funerals and each was totally different from the other two...and I left each with very different feelings and reactions. The first was held at an AME Zion church, a lovely little place with a beautiful cemetery. The sanctuary was filled, and the spirit of the service was a mixture of celebration and tears,...

A dear and precious saint died this week, a member of the parish I had pastored for fourteen years, until my retirement in 2004. And when her son called, after telling me the news of her death, his next words were, "You know what I'm going to ask. Will you preside at her funeral?" Now, I know this may sound peculiar (though I often find  things about me do...sound peculiar, that is...especially regarding "churchy" matters), but I have always enjoyed presiding at funerals. No... "enjoy" is not the right word...I have been honored and humbled by the awesome gift and responsibility of pronouncing the words of comfort to the bereaved, of commending the dear departed into the hands of God- where he or she already fully rests. Each time I have been called upon to do this, I know that I am standing upon Holy Ground- and I am always tempted to take off my shoes and bow down. For I know that the words I say are hallowed by the God who loves us so fully, so co...