Funeral Liturgy of
1
I ask your patience for a moment.
Here’s the scenario:
imagine a children’s sandbox.
A young Dad is driving home from work.
In the backyard, in the sandbox,
are his little daughter, her younger brother,
(who, incidentally, didn’t get nap today),
…and there’s a borrowed toy truck,
a toddler’s shouting,
angry and hurt feelings,
soon a fistful of sand about to be hurled
when Daddy pulls into the driveway.
He puts down his attaché case,
quickly slips off his shoes and socks,
as he rolls up pants legs, and steps into the sandbox,
to the glee and transformation of two little ones.
Last night, gazing into the casket
we could still see tenderness and beauty of Gina…
I was captured by the Valentine from Jim,
sacred messages from Alec and Eric
stories in photographs and flowers
.
2
As we celebrate Gina’s life…,
these symbols of love remind us of our incarnate God —
a God who, in Jesus, rolls up His pants, takes off shoes/socks,
and enters our messy world,
a world of war and hatred,
scandal & cynicism,
broken promises and broken dreams.
I don’t know the reason Philip and Serena chose the name
(the name means queen, of course),
…but I do know that Jesus, son of Mary,
Queen of Heaven and Earth,
reveals a God of unconditional LOVE.
Our God of love is believable because of the words and actions
of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is believable because of the words and actions
of Gina Herzog
We try to embrace that love this morning,
with all its agony and ecstasy.
Gina’s death diminishes us all.
We are all the poorer for her passing.
Grace has truly been taken from our midst.
For several days now we’ve been feeling
an overwhelming sense of separation,
and the futility of irreversible loss.
The death of a loved one,
especially someone as young and vibrant as Gina,
drives us to the brink of irrationality
since no adequate reason can be given
why someone so young and so good
should die and be taken from among us.
If we judge and value someone’s life by its length or yield,
then for someone like Gina,
her life can barely be called the beginning of success.
Like anyone in their early 40’s, she was just moving into the time of confidence and productivity.
In the cross of Jesus, however,
we learn that it is not in the length
nor in the accomplishments of life…
(though hers were many…her family, sacred marriage, teaching career, 2 beautiful boys, revered friendships)
that makes it valuable,
but in the intensity in which it is lived,
the intensity in which one faces life’s challenges.
3
This morning’s Gospel
when Jesus stands with Martha at Lazarus’ tomb.
“Lord, if you had been here
our brother would not have died.”
Where were you when we needed you?
Where were you when life was slowly taken, stolen from her?
When she was touching the flower of her life—
the threshold of new adventures,
surrounded by family and friends who loved her deeply.
There is no answer that will satisfy the philosopher.
In the face of innocent suffering and tragedy,
human wisdom is bankrupt.
Peace will come not from logic but from trust —
trust that stems from love,
love of a God who, John’s Gospel tells us,
“so loved us that He gave His only Son”
to an excruciating cross.
Peace will come only when, as with Job in the Hebrew Testament,
God shows His face to us —
not for us to experience explanation,
only to experience love.
And so I plead with you now
to touch your experience of love for Gina;
don’t run from it because it hurts so.
The only peace you will find comes from that love.
Where were you, Lord, during these years of cancer struggle?
Closer to Gina, perhaps, than ever before.
Because every Gethsemane is your garden,
and every
Thank you for being with Gina as she shared your agony;
thank you for being near her as she died your death,
and now lives your ever-more-abundant life.
4
Finally,we come this morning in variety of different ways…
Some are energized, some exhausted
some feeling close to God, even fervent or holy…
others miles away & guilt-ridden or shamefaced
… distant from God, others, self.
For some of us, peaceful time of life,
others, time of turmoil, anxiety.
No matter how we come, we’re here because we’re trying,
and because we love —
as Thomas Merton said, “that in itself must please you, Lord.”
(Please pray with me…)
Lord, in our sadness, in our confusion, in our distress,
we pray: Jesus, You knew. Jesus, You know.
Take our aching, our broken hearts, and comfort us.
Remind us not to lose sight of the other side of ache.
Deepen our faith and soften our sadness
so that the vision of home-coming hope
will overpower the pains and struggles
in all of life’s farewells and good-byes.
Gina, thanks for teaching us your love for LIFE.
… got to thinking
a wonderful kind of biography of the artist, Vincent Van Gogh entitled Lust for Life
author Irving Stone speaks of passion of this 19th c. Dutch artist
even though criticized or ignored,
Van Gogh poured himself into canvas
Colleague, another post impressionist Paul Gaugin,
Van Gosh’s dream artists colony So.
bitter argument
Gaugin shouts:
“All I see in your paintings is you paint too fast.”
Van Gogh:
“Perhaps it’s you who look too fast.”
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