A HEART TOUCHING LIFE AFFIRMING THANK YOU
I received this recently from a bereaved family for whom I had had the privilege of taking the funeral.
Where to start.....
I think I'll begin with a heartfelt thank you from all our family and friends.
You spoke today with so much passion, conviction and conveyed the deep, deep love we all have for our loved one. As a family we could not have wished for more and you exceeded everything we hoped for.
I've lost count of the number of people who said what a beautiful ceremony and how so perfectly it captured all that our loved one was and what they leave behind in the family.
Your delivery of the grand children's letter was so warm and rich, broadcasting loud and clear their eternal affection for their grandparent.
Over the years I've attended so many ceremonies for my own grandparents and my parent, where a minister has delivered a cold, detached, by the numbers service. Devoid of warmth and affection these are often just another trial to endure as part of saying goodbye to your loved one.
Today I experienced a joy and shared in a celebration of a life that I didn't think was possible. Yes today was going to be hard but to leave the chapel with a smile, a feeling of contentment and peace was more than I could have ever wished for. I am not alone in feeling this.
I have to say I've always been conflicted by religion, understanding the human need to believe in something better but struggled with the traditional delivery, its execution, the empire building, the hostility to other faiths or to those that don't conform to its rules.
Through meeting you I have learnt there is an alternative in the Open Episcopal Church. The OEC seems to have at its very core all the qualities and values that I always believe a church should champion. At a time when the world seems to embrace exclusivity and division at every opportunity, it is so, so refreshing to discover an organisation where inclusivity and tolerance are fundamental to its very being.
Thank you for opening my eyes.
Once again thank you for all you have done for our family.
ARCHBISHOP JONATHAN BLAKE IS INNOCENT-HE HELPED STOP A PAEDOPHILE
posted by Bishop Jonathan Blake | 2:56 PM
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