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The Ship of Life

Along the shore I spy a ship As she set out to sea;
She spreads her sails and sniffs the breeze
And slips away from me.
I watch her fading image shrink,
As she moves on and on, Until at last she’s but a speck,
Then someone says, “She’s gone.”
Gone where? Gone only form our sight
And from our farewell cries;
That ship will somewhere reappear to other eager eyes.
Beyond the dim horizon’s rim, resound the welcome drums,
And while we’re crying, There she goes!
They’re shouting, Here she comes!
We’re built to cruise for but a while
Upon the trackless sea
Until one day we sail away into infinity.
John T. Baker

Crossing The Bar (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Do Not Be Afraid

Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Verse 1
When you walk through the waters I’ll be with you,
You will never sink beneath the waves.

Chorus
Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Verse 2
When the fire is burning all around you,
You will never be consumed by the flames.

Chorus
Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Verse 3
When the fear of loneliness is looming,
Then remember I am at your side.

Chorus
Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Verse 4
When you dwell in the exile of a stranger,
Remember you are precious in my eyes.

Chorus
Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Verse 5
You are mine, O my child; I am your father,
And I love you with a perfect love.

Chorus
Do not be afraid,
For I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.

Do not stand at my grave and weep (Clare Harner)

By Clare Harner

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep-
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the day transcending soft night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry-
I am not there.
I did not die.

Eternal rest prayer

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let the perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.

And may the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.

Amen.

Fear ( Khalil Gibran)

By Khalil Gibran

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

Going Home

Goin’ home. goin’ home. I’m just goin’ home.
Quiet-like slip away, I’ll be goin’ home.
It’s not far, just close by, Jesus is the door.
Work all done, laid aside, fear and grief no more;
Friends are there waiting too, He is waiting too,
See his smile, see his hand, He will lead me through.

Morning star lights the way, restless dream all done.
Shadows gone, break of day, life has just begun.
Every tear wiped away, pain and sickness gone;
Wide awake, there with Him, peace goes on and on.
Goin’ home. G oin’ home, I’ll be goin’ home.
See the Light, see the sun, I’m just goin’ home.

Gospel John 11- 32-45

A Reading From The Holy Gospel According To John

11: 32-45

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell at his feet and said to him,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping
and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled,
and said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
But some of them said, “Could not the one
who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this man
would not have died?”
So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him,
“Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you
that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.
And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know
that you always hear me; but because of the crowd
here I have said this, that they may believe
that you sent me.”
And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord