Day 5:
Fifth Source: Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
Opening: Ring a Chime, or play a singing bowl.
Opening Hymn: “We Gather Together” #349 Singing the Living Tradition
Chalice Lighting:
“Since tragedy is at the heart of us, go to meet it, work it in to our ends, instead of dodging it all our days, and being run down by it at last.” -William James
Readings:
Reading #1
I share with you the agony of your grief,
The anguish of your heart finds echo in my own.
I know I cannot enter all you feel
Nor bear with you the burden of your pain;
I can but offer what my love does give;
The strength of caring,
The warmth of one who seeks to understand
The silent storm-swept barrenness of so great a loss.
This I do in quiet ways,
That on your lonely path
You may not walk alone.
-Howard Thurman
Musical Reflection- Live or recorded
Reading #2
Jesus was right. Whatever happens to us after we die, life doesn’t end in oblivion. It continues in love, our own love, once given, everlasting. Read an obituary unadorned by pretense and your eyes will tell you what your heart already knows.
After death our bodies may be resurrected. Our souls may transmigrate or become part of the heavenly pleroma. We may join our loved ones in Heaven. Or we may return the constituent parts of our being to the earth from which it came and rest in eternal peace. About life after death, no one knows. But about love after death, we surely know. I learned this from my father, as he did from his father and grandfather before him. I learn it also from each one of you. The one thing that can never be taken from this world, even by death, is the love we have given away before we die. Those fortunate enough to complete life’s seven acts may die sans teeth perhaps, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything but love. For love, I swear it, is immortal.
-Forrest Church
Musical Reflection– either live or recorded
Ritual of Release:
The leader will bring stones and place a bowl of water on the altar. Each person will be invited to take a stone and hold it in their hand. Leader: place any anger, disappointment, resentment, or anything you are holding on to about your relationship with the Deceased into your hand. With your eyes closed, channel those ties that are keeping you negatively bound to the Deceased into the stone. One by one, drop the stone into the water, and as you do, release that particular hurt from your relationship with the deceased. Everyone is encouraged to say the hurt out loud, but it is not necessary.
Next, light a tea light on the altar to light a way for love and forgiveness to unfold in your relationship with the deceased.
Time of Quaker Silence: no one will be encouraged or discouraged to speak, but can wait until they are moved to speak, or not. The silence should not last more than eight minutes. This replaces the Sharing on this fifth night of mourning.
Closing Hymn: “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking” #292 from Singing the Living Tradition
Breaking Bread: Guests and mourners will break bread together, sharing memories or stories about the Deceased, and especially how (he/she/zi) was influenced by humanist values.
uu mourning and healing 