Funeral for a Friend

I took part in a funeral for a friend this week - It was the person who was my first connection to the Internet, so it seems appropriate to spend a moment to memorialize her in this online forum.

S. was something of a Contemplative or Mystic - a cousin to some of the hermits and/or monks sometimes referred to as the Desert Fathers - although she would have laughed at the name. I think of her this way because of the reading that she did, and shared with me. When she would print out a quote from, say, Simone Weil [a French woman, born to an agnostic Jewish family, who followed her sympathies towards early-20th century workers to the point of declaring herself a Bolshevik by age 10, and who later came to be known as a Christian mystic - a fairly interesting path lived out in a 34-year life], I used to think, "Who READS these people?" - but then I realized, S. did - and she was able to mine these eclectic sources deeply.

S. herself came from rural northern Indiana - a true daughter of the great American Midwest (evidenced in part by her support for the Cubs ... of course). You never know where you will find the next Contemplative. I use the term to refer to someone who pays attention as they go through life, and who consequently finds wonder and amazement in some pretty ordinary-looking places. She made me think of the familiar lines from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

"Earth's crammed with Heaven,

And every common bush afire with God -

But only he who sees takes off his shoes -

The rest sit round it and pick blackberries."

Unlike many mystics, though, she did not accomplish her contemplation by removing herself to the Desert. Along with her husband she raised a family and worked in very concrete ways to improve Sunday Schools and other ministries in the Churches which were part of their lives. Together, also, they fought a heroic battle with a still-mysterious brain disorder in the final years of her life. You never know where you will find the next Contemplative - or the next heroes.

She chose the lines below to be shared at her funeral. They are by G.A. Studdert-Kennedy, from "The Kiss of God" - With the regret that comes from knowing that I have lost the source of some surprising and insightful glimpses into the wonders of God in the everyday world, I share them here:

So, I looked up to God

And while I held my breath

I saw Him slowly nod,

And knew ... As I had never known aught else,

With certainty sublime and passionate,

Shot through and through

With sheer unutterable bliss,

I knew,

There was no death, but this,

God's kiss,

And then the waking to an everlasting love.