on this 3rd day in a row of no sun...
with the damp chill of the rapidly advancing winter...
entrenching itself amid the gray, dankness...
and glowering darkness of the coming evening...
we gathered, yet again, to say good-bye...
to a member of our church, Ms Blue Eyes...
there have been too many this last few months alone...
the family had requested that choristers...
Mr & Mrs. GreenThumb, good friends of Ms Blue Eyes...
lead the congregation in some hymns...
I became involved as Mrs GT wasn't sure...
that she could get off work in time...
but she did, so we had a trio...
then SuperSop, who had ties to Ms Blue Eyes from years ago...
came up to where the 3 of us were sitting...
and we conscripted her, making us a quartet...
it was a lovely service, a full Eucharist...
so it was really nice to have a "mini"choir...
all vested... & leading the hymns...
afterwards, in the Guild Hall...
some ladies who were club members with Ms Blue Eyes...
passed out tubers of purple iris...
a tangible remembrance of Ms Blue Eyes...
I put mine in with the iris that Mom saved from the ranch...
they're also purple...
during the eulogy, Ms Blue Eyes' daughter called her generation...
"something special"...& said that we will not see their like, again...
I agree... Mom was one of them too...
these people who grew to maturity...
during the Great Depression & World War II...
were a unique kind of person...
who did their duty, without complaint...
made do with what they had...
and always helped their neighbor...
they were unselfish...caring...and honorable...
they believed in family, civic duty & duty to one's country...
they knew that freedom isn't free...
and that there is NO free lunch...
as I look around in today's society...
we could use a lot more of those attributes...
at a time when we are losing more & more of "that" generation...
I see among my friends, those who exemplify the ideals...
that "that" generation was willing to die for...
but for every good human being I know...
there seem to be droves that are selfish and self-centered...
beyond even the mantle of "immature"...
I hope it doesn't take the mass suffering...
of another "Great Depression" or global war...
to wake up the "sleepwalkers"...
during this time of Advent, let us all take a lesson...
from the rapidly thinning ranks of "that" generation...
and prepare ourselves to do our duty...
in whatever form it may come...
to reconcile with those with whom we may be estranged...
to open our hearts and lives to self-evaluation...
to set right those things we find, that aren't right...
and to welcome in the Christ of Christmas...
to trim our lamps...to be watching...
and to plant a purple iris... or some other remembrance...
of all those who fought the good fight...
kept the faith...and finished the race...
e'en so Lord Jesus, quickly come...
and night will be no more...
4 comments:
This was beautiful, Catsinger! I, too, loved the service today. I will miss Ms. Blue Eyes very much...she had been my friend even before I came to the church as I met her when her husband died many years ago. We "clicked" then and remained close ever since. I quartet was a lovely addition to the service. I'm so glad you were all there. For me, it was an incredible privelege to serve.
...thanks... I think I can speak for "the quartet" when I say it was also our privilege to serve...
May your friend rest in peace.
Thank you for writing about the "greatest generation". When I contrast how we live today with what my mother's generation went through, I am ashamed sometimes. It's getting tough in the US right now, but we haven't seen tough times like they endured.
...Amen, sister...
it was our privilege to "sing her home"...
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