Monday, August 22, 2005

Worship went well yesterday although we were soaked in sadness. A former member died Saturday. Well-liked, active in church life and a character.

I opened the service then discussed his death and our grief.

One of his family members came to worship (the day after his death) which impressed me.

Close death shuts me down and I can't imagine "returning to normal" the next day. The family member said she didn't know what to do with her time and it was time for church, so she came to worship. Makes sense to me. We gave her hugs and told stories about the decedent.

I changed my comments section to include that new comments spammie thingie. Turns out that all the D'Waynes of the spammy world commented on Dibbie's post. (See previous post to decipher this paragraph.)

Devotedly,
St. Casserole

4 comments:

aola said...

the day my sister died I went to church as usual. Later I thought it was a bit strange but at the time it was all I could do.

Kathryn said...

The day after my father died, which was also the day before my first A level, I went into school on the Sunday train (which stopped in all sorts of weird by the way places, and transferred to a bus if they were doign engineering works on the line) because we were due to sing Jesu joy of man's desiring as the Communion Anthem in school chapel, and I couldn't bear to miss it. It seemed utterly logical to me...Singing made me feel better, and this was music I loved. Perturbed other people no end, though...lots of sticky silences, with embarrassed teenagers.

Anonymous said...

We had a young female student die unexpectedly last March on a Saturday. On the Sunday morning her whole family were there. Our worship leader opened the service with |Now is the time to worship| and I cringed. Id expected minor key and a sombre mood.

Afterwards her mother sobbed with me, and said Oh that was H's favourite worship song and it ministered to me. And I was reminded that David worshipped God after his son died, and we prayed that.

But I would never have chosen to do the service that way. I love it that God knows best :)

My God daughter (7) died in June. In the service that day we heard that our oldest member 101 had died that same day. The whole service was really subdued and my own kids left before the sermon asthey couldnt take it anymore. The funeral was two days later and by then the whole mood had changed from shock and dispair to thankfulness for her life.

Prayers appreciated for her family and siblings (9 and 4) It's an incredibly hard time for them still. Thanks

Leslee said...

"soaked in saddness" I've never heard it quite said like that. Wow! What an image, and an accurate one at that!