The Circle Of Life
Sermon
The Word Is Life
An Anthology Of Funeral Meditations
Life has brought us full circle again!
I want you to visualize a circle. It might be your ring, or the circle in the cross (pointing to the Celtic cross above the altar). I use the word, circle, because I feel that deep inside God's universe there is no real beginning and no real ending. There are continuous circles marked by all kinds of events, some natural, some traumatic, some glorious, and some just ordinary. Some we plan, some happen, some we memorialize. But all in all, we call them beginnings and endings by the nature of them.
Birth we call a beginning. Death we call an end. Marriage we call a beginning. Divorce we call an end.
But think about it. One event can be both a beginning and an end. Retirement. An end? Actually, retirement is an end of a certain kind of activity in life, but marks a beginning of a new kind of activity in life. ____________ retired from government service but he could not let himself give up on work. So he assumed a more relaxed job, a shoe salesman part-time. After a while age and health affected him severely and further altered his participation in life.
____________, known to his family and colleagues as ____________, had his beginning in this life 85 years ago. ____________ ... baptismal name, ____________, was born ____________. On Sunday morning, ____________, he made his exit from this life.
____________ leaves memories in all who have known him as husband, father, brother, friend and colleague. Those memories will remain for as long as we choose to nurture them.
The only way we Christians know how to deal with death is in terms of the resurrection. Hence I say, circle of life, because death is not the end, only the exit from this life to another.
Each of us is somewhere in that circle.
One matures, graduates, loves, follows a career through successes and failures, and lives through pleasures and pain. And, of course, we are here because someone chose to marry, have a family, and experience the enrichment, sometimes disappointment, that brings. Each of these choices and life--adventures is a circle within the larger cosmic circle of God's universe.
Each time we complete a circle - graduate, fall in love, become parents, complete a career in retirement, lose a loved one in death, become a believer - in each of these we assess where we have been and do some planning about where we go next. That's the way we put meaning and fulfillment into the circle, and circles, of life.
Always in an effort to save ourselves from confusion and from going adrift in the sea of life it seems natural to ask questions. Who am I, anyway? Why am I here? What are the factors that linked me up with the people who are so important in my life? Am I grateful? Am I telling those with whom I am connected that I am grateful? Am I telling those near and dear to me that I need them, and am I being the kind of person they need?
Some of the questions may have no answers, or if they do, the answer changes from time to time. But each time we ask them and ponder them they tend to bring us back to center and give us a sense of direction. And in the end, our lives become our answer to those questions. That is the essence of making the circle complete.
Someone expressed it in verse:
People come into our lives
And walk with us a mile.
And then - because of circumstances
Only stay a while.
They fill a need within
The days move quickly by!
And then they're gone -
Beyond our reach.
We often wonder why!
God only knows the reason
Why we meet
And share a smile.
Why people come into our lives
And walk with us a mile. - Source unknown
When I read the newspaper and watch television, I see that faith and hope have a lot of subtle enemies: gloom and doom, pessimism, depression, disillusionment, boredom, fear. Negativism - lack of faith, lack of hope - is the rich seedbed for indifference, insecurity, protectionism, and self--imposed and fantasy--based guilt trips.
A lot of people give up on life; they resign and let themselves become victims to life's circumstances. A lot of people reject God because they are unable to see purpose shining through the chaos, disorder, disaster, pain and suffering that life brings.
How can we cut through the gloom and doom stuff? I suggest two guidelines: One, treat life as if 10 percent is what happens and 90 percent is how to manage it. And two, I know that life is not easy, but I cling to the victory that Jesus claimed, ''In the world you will have trouble, but never lose heart - I have conquered the world.''
I invite you to join me in affirming the faith that ____________ believed and practiced in The Apostles' Creed.
I want you to visualize a circle. It might be your ring, or the circle in the cross (pointing to the Celtic cross above the altar). I use the word, circle, because I feel that deep inside God's universe there is no real beginning and no real ending. There are continuous circles marked by all kinds of events, some natural, some traumatic, some glorious, and some just ordinary. Some we plan, some happen, some we memorialize. But all in all, we call them beginnings and endings by the nature of them.
Birth we call a beginning. Death we call an end. Marriage we call a beginning. Divorce we call an end.
But think about it. One event can be both a beginning and an end. Retirement. An end? Actually, retirement is an end of a certain kind of activity in life, but marks a beginning of a new kind of activity in life. ____________ retired from government service but he could not let himself give up on work. So he assumed a more relaxed job, a shoe salesman part-time. After a while age and health affected him severely and further altered his participation in life.
____________, known to his family and colleagues as ____________, had his beginning in this life 85 years ago. ____________ ... baptismal name, ____________, was born ____________. On Sunday morning, ____________, he made his exit from this life.
____________ leaves memories in all who have known him as husband, father, brother, friend and colleague. Those memories will remain for as long as we choose to nurture them.
The only way we Christians know how to deal with death is in terms of the resurrection. Hence I say, circle of life, because death is not the end, only the exit from this life to another.
Each of us is somewhere in that circle.
One matures, graduates, loves, follows a career through successes and failures, and lives through pleasures and pain. And, of course, we are here because someone chose to marry, have a family, and experience the enrichment, sometimes disappointment, that brings. Each of these choices and life--adventures is a circle within the larger cosmic circle of God's universe.
Each time we complete a circle - graduate, fall in love, become parents, complete a career in retirement, lose a loved one in death, become a believer - in each of these we assess where we have been and do some planning about where we go next. That's the way we put meaning and fulfillment into the circle, and circles, of life.
Always in an effort to save ourselves from confusion and from going adrift in the sea of life it seems natural to ask questions. Who am I, anyway? Why am I here? What are the factors that linked me up with the people who are so important in my life? Am I grateful? Am I telling those with whom I am connected that I am grateful? Am I telling those near and dear to me that I need them, and am I being the kind of person they need?
Some of the questions may have no answers, or if they do, the answer changes from time to time. But each time we ask them and ponder them they tend to bring us back to center and give us a sense of direction. And in the end, our lives become our answer to those questions. That is the essence of making the circle complete.
Someone expressed it in verse:
People come into our lives
And walk with us a mile.
And then - because of circumstances
Only stay a while.
They fill a need within
The days move quickly by!
And then they're gone -
Beyond our reach.
We often wonder why!
God only knows the reason
Why we meet
And share a smile.
Why people come into our lives
And walk with us a mile. - Source unknown
When I read the newspaper and watch television, I see that faith and hope have a lot of subtle enemies: gloom and doom, pessimism, depression, disillusionment, boredom, fear. Negativism - lack of faith, lack of hope - is the rich seedbed for indifference, insecurity, protectionism, and self--imposed and fantasy--based guilt trips.
A lot of people give up on life; they resign and let themselves become victims to life's circumstances. A lot of people reject God because they are unable to see purpose shining through the chaos, disorder, disaster, pain and suffering that life brings.
How can we cut through the gloom and doom stuff? I suggest two guidelines: One, treat life as if 10 percent is what happens and 90 percent is how to manage it. And two, I know that life is not easy, but I cling to the victory that Jesus claimed, ''In the world you will have trouble, but never lose heart - I have conquered the world.''
I invite you to join me in affirming the faith that ____________ believed and practiced in The Apostles' Creed.
