This Saturday I had the very sad honor of performing Nana’s graveside committal ceremony. It was the first one I have ever done, and, while very hard for me, I know it will probably not be the last. I wrote a song after my Grandfather Ray died, the last of my grandparents to enter eternity, called “Eventually”. The sad but true conclusion to the song was that though they now walk with God, all grandparents eventually die. After losing mine, Amy’s last grandparent, Nana, stepped into that role, as she did for hundreds of other orphaned grand kids, and became as much my Nana as she was any of her “real” kin. I loved her with all my heart. As I was researching what it meant to properly perform a committal, I kept being reminded that though we were burying her body, we all know the part of her that she imparted into us, will never die. The Bible says that we were created in God’s image, and that like him, we have three parts that make one whole. A spirit( the part that is just like God) a soul( our mind and emotions) and our body. In Nana, we could so easily see the fruits of the Spirit alive and active in her life at every turn. She was the most selfless, kind, compassionate, and forgiving person I have ever known. She also had such a love for God and desire to constantly know him more deeply that she even decided to get filled with the Holy Spirit at the young age of 72. She wanted all of him she could get.She also was so filled with the love and compassion of Christ for the people she knew that she actually raised her brother-in-law from the dead because he hadn’t accepted Jesus yet. Come on!! Can you say that about your Grandma, or for anyone you know? We also knew her soul, because she felt and expressed great emotion for everyone she knew. When she laughed, everyone laughed, and if you didn’t, she would try to figure out why and eventually you would. It was her soul that loved to, not just to be nice, but loved to be with, and play with, and read to, and cook for, and have sleep overs with her grand kids and her great grand kids. She was my son’s best friend. She would play marbles with him everyday after school. It was her soul that has never been the same, since she lost the love of her life in 1995. Those are just a few of the examples of Nana’s Spirit and Soul that she has imparted into all of us that have changed who we are, and that will never die. But, as I studyed, everything I read informed me that I was suppose to refer to Nana’s body as “just an empty shell” or an “old worn out garment”. I know there is some truth to that, but as I thought about my Nana, I just couldn’t look at it that way. Though it was her spirit and soul that made her the loving, kind, compassionate Nana, it was her body that administered that Love to all of us. It was her hands that baked the Texas Sheet Cakes and peanut butter pies, and that touched us and wiped away tears, magically making whatever made us cry seem to not feel so bad anymore. It was her arms that held us, hugged us, picked us up when we fell. Her feet that chased us around the yard or walked beside us on a sunny day. It was her finger that swayed back and forth as it conducted an invisible orchestra every time she heard a song she liked. It was her voice that sang to us, said “love you” every time we hung up the phone, and always had the right thing to say at just the right time. It was that Nana, that Played marbles with a somewhat naughty little boy that she loved so much every day. It was through that vessel that thousands of people were able to touch, feel, hear, see, and know Jesus. That was the part of Nana that we laid to rest and honored on Saturday morning. We will see her again someday, and rejoice for her new found glory,but we will miss her so much. Here is the prayer that I prayed as we committed that precious body back to the dust it came from.
Almighty God, we gather beside this grave today to lay to rest the body of our Mother, our Nana and our friend, Marion Frisbie. We do so remembering another grave in another place—the tomb that received the body of our Lord Jesus. As Jesus came from the grave to live again, we know that all who die in Him shall never truly die. Thank you, Father, that Nana has finished the course, that she has kept the faith, and that she now has rest from her labors. As we commit her body to the ground, we do so in perfect trust, remembering Jesus’ victory over death and knowing, that because He lives, so too, shall we. Eternal God, you have shared with us the life of Nana. Before she was ours, she was yours. For all that she has given us to make us what we are, for that of her which lives and grows in each of us, and for her life that in your love will never end, we give you thanks. As now we offer Nana back into your arms, comfort us in our loneliness, strengthen us in our weakness, and give us courage to face the future unafraid. Draw those of us who remain in this life closer to one another, make us faithful to serve one another, and give us to know that peace and joy which is eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. From Dust we came, to dust we return.
I love you Nana,
Josh
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