Tag: mourning

  • Memorial Services

    Memorial Services

    Photo of solitary lit candle with a partially lit blue background.

     
    I’ll tell you, memorial services are good services. Beliefs have to be held to account at this most difficult time. After all, if God is loving, why does death exist?

    At a memorial, good church leaders HAVE to answer that question because attendees are there for comfort.

    I have a cousin that was studying to become a Catholic priest when he died at age 26. His service started with “God got it wrong.” The service articulated our grief and 3 hours and much incense later, I’d cried all of the tears I could and felt much better.

    The Archbishop of York did a good job with this Sunday service memorial for Queen Elizabeth. I’ll provide 2 good quotes:

    “Hence in the Lord’s Prayer,
    the daily diet of prayer for Christians everywhere,
    we say your will be done, not mine.
    Your kingdom come, not the kingdoms of the world,
    and on earth as it is in heaven.
    If you were looking for a simple role model
    of someone who lived their life this way,
    then our dear departed Queen Elizabeth
    would be a good example.

    The paradox of this is hard to avoid.
    It was a monarch, a queen, who it turns out
    is one of the best examples of the fact
    that the kingdoms of this world will pass away
    and we shouldn’t put too much trust in them.
    And Queen Elizabeth was able to live this way
    because she had a clear sense of her place,
    her role, and her duty, which was also for her a vocation.

    …

    The one to whom we bent the knee
    knew to whom she had to bow
    and to whom she would be called to give account.
    I guess this is why she was able to live
    a life of such remarkable service.”
     
    It wasn’t just that Elizabeth ‘tried to be good’ as a Christian, she knew her kingdom was not the Kingdom of all. She would be held accountable for her actions and it was in fear of that, that she put her lifelong service to work. If you think of it that way, it’s not hard to figure out her life at all.

  • In mourning

    In mourning

     

    Psalm 23, verses 1-4 text over a photo of sunshine coming through trees in an early autumn scene.

    I’m half British. It is a purposeful decision of honor, not a cute decision, to be known on LinkedIn with my middle name, after Queen Elizabeth II.

    A name can be a funny thing. As child, because Heather rhymes easily, I went through sing-song teasing. For many years, I didn’t really notice much about my name, other than relief that it’s somewhat easy for Americans to pronounce. Internationally, I know it’s difficult to guess the pronunciation (the ‘h’s and ‘r’s change), but I always happy to help, encouraging the breathy-ness of “Heather” and the z spelling for “Elizabeth”, and I desired help in return in pronouncing others’ names.

    But lately, I feel the “time” of my name; “Heather” ties me to a time and now, “Elizabeth” to an Era.

    Personally, I’ll be conducting minimal LinkedIn business in order to mourn. As a reminder, death is wrong. Our world was not created to work this way. I constantly pull my strength from my creator and loving God.

    Heather Elizabeth Dodds PhD Consulting LinkedIn Banner in mourning