THE PRIVILEGE OF TAKING FUNERALS
It is very humbling to be asked to take many funerals. At this most traumatic moment in a person and a family's life, they need only love, compassion and the chance to arrange exactly the sort of funeral service they want for their loved one. Undertakers know that this is what I will provide. I spend hours with the family, listening to all they tell me of their beloved, finding out any particular or special ingredients they want incorporated into the service, identifying whether they would like a religious or non religious service, checking whether they want me in a shirt and tie, minister's robes or some other more relevant attire to their beloved, like a football shirt etc. I then compile a personal, sensitive and very carefully prepared eulogy that brings the unique life of their loved one to be at the very heart of the service. I try and make the funeral as comforting as possible and ensure it is a beautiful tribute to their loved one.
A family wrote to me in thanks for a funeral I had taken:
""Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful way you conducted Mum's funeral. It was as though you managed to bring our Mum to life again in what you said. I cannot describe to you the honour that you bestowed on Mum when you sang. You have touched all our lives in such a special way that I will be indebted to you forever. You have also restored my faith."
Another wrote:
"You had a unique ability of weaving together the memories and details of my mother's life in such a sincere, gentle and sensitive presentation. It has left me with a sense of peace and tranquility."
Another wrote:
"You made a day we were all dreading, beautiful. You are a man with great compassion, feeling and lots of love and understanding."
Another wrote:
"You helped begin the healing. Your words, your smile and your warmth has had a deep and lasting impact on all of us. You truly are a light in an often dark world. The world is a better place with you in it. From the bottom of my heart I thank you."
A family wrote to me in thanks for a funeral I had taken:
""Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful way you conducted Mum's funeral. It was as though you managed to bring our Mum to life again in what you said. I cannot describe to you the honour that you bestowed on Mum when you sang. You have touched all our lives in such a special way that I will be indebted to you forever. You have also restored my faith."
Another wrote:
"You had a unique ability of weaving together the memories and details of my mother's life in such a sincere, gentle and sensitive presentation. It has left me with a sense of peace and tranquility."
Another wrote:
"You made a day we were all dreading, beautiful. You are a man with great compassion, feeling and lots of love and understanding."
Another wrote:
"You helped begin the healing. Your words, your smile and your warmth has had a deep and lasting impact on all of us. You truly are a light in an often dark world. The world is a better place with you in it. From the bottom of my heart I thank you."
ARCHBISHOP JONATHAN BLAKE - MY LIFE - PART ONE
ARCHBISHOP JONATHAN BLAKE - MY LIFE - PART TWO
I AM PROUD OF MY WRITING, FOR JESUS’S SAKE, THAT HAS HAD ME FOUND INNOCENT IN HEAVEN, BUT TWICE A CRIMINAL ON THE EARTH. THE FIRST IN 1990 WHEN I WROTE A BIBLICAL TEXT ON THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN PEACEFUL PROTEST ABOUT THE BOMBING OF YOUNG IRAQI RECRUITS DURING THE FIRST GULF WAR. THE SECOND, IN 2016 WHEN I WROTE ON MY BLOG, TO ALERT THE PUBLIC ABOUT A PAEDOPHILE, AND WAS SUCCESSFUL IN FORCING THE AUTHORITIES TO STOP HIM HAVING ACCESS TO CHILDREN. THERE WAS ALMOST A THIRD! IN 1997, WHEN I WAS ARRESTED FOR NAILING MY PROPOSALS FOR REFORM OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ON THE DOOR OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. WORDS ARE POWERFUL MESSAGES THAT CHALLENGE CORRUPTION, CONFRONT THE WICKED AND CREATE A BETTER WORLD. JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD AND HIS FOLLOWERS ARE CALLED TO COMMUNICATE HIS WORDS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE COST.
"You brave, courageous and wonderful man. To stand up for the truth in the face of suppression and oppression is truly an act of a pure heart."
posted by Bishop Jonathan Blake | 10:58 PM
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