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Thoughts and Memories Honoring: Elders It was a very happy time, as it always was, when our brother/sister was one with nature. He derived a lot of pleasure from the simple things in life: basking in the sun’s warmth on a lazy afternoon, listening to a symphony of birds chirping, meticulously tending to his many flowers and vegetables, or submerging in fantasies of escape induced by the calm of nature and his/her soul mate as they would look out over their many projects they loved together.An Elder you see, did his/her good deeds with sincerity. He/she never advertised the fact that he/she helped so many people in so many different ways. He never talked about his numerous acts of kindness. Yet I trust that pretty much everyone here today has been at the receiving end of that kindness. He may have loaned you something that was particularly beneficial to your life. They are an honorable people and like to share the treasures they find. He/she may have helped you fix something important or very minor. He/she could do just about anything. He/she might have been a collaborator of yours and helped you in your daily life or more likely, stayed behind to help you catch up on some extra work. He/she might have said a gentle word of appreciation that meant a lot to you. Today many people grieve over him/her. His/her family will, of course, miss him/her most of all. I hope however that they will take comfort in the fact that so many others too will also miss him/her for many different reasons. His/her family members knew he/she was well respected but it is heartwarming to see how many others will genuinely miss our Elder. I will miss him/her as a fountain of general knowledge. If ever I needed to know anything, there was always a good chance that he/she would know the answer. If he/she didn't they would make sure they found the answer for you. I will miss him/her and our discussions because he/she always had great knowledge of the countryside that made our discussions such a pleasure. I will miss him/her most of all as a friend because good friends like these don't happen often in a lifetime. Somebody as attuned to nature as he/she was knew that there was always another Spring around the corner. Every time I look at the ripples on the Lake; I will think of him/her and the memories will bring sadness, then like the Spring, they will bring new gladness. Although he/she will forever be part of my heart and soul, I heed his/her wise counsel and I say farewell today to a wonderful father/mother, husband/wife, brother/sister/friend and human being. ( If applicable) Christ, as we know, called the fishermen to follow him. Today I am sure he/she has taken his place with the apostles.He was as calm as the deepest ocean and kindness remained his religion. Although he was not one to attend church regularly, he worshipped at the feet of “frankness, respect, loyalty and integrity.” |
