As For Man...

 (Song in Ojibway language with lyrics. Scroll down for words in English.)

“We are not here to celebrate life or death, said the minister at Vera’s funeral yesterday, but we are here to consider the seriousness of both.”

Here, where we love to laugh and learn

And contemplate time’s no return

Here, where the morning tide refills

What twilight drains to misted hills

Here, in the pulsing Must of Now

Before we lay our gauntlets down

We tread a sacred thoroughfare

That leads, for one and all to There

Here, in this hold-let-go affair

Of growing old beneath death’s stare

Here, where the flowers bloom then bleed

Upon the tomb that seals our need

Here, all who come to pass must climb

Beyond this little grass of time

For we are bound with common care

Toward that all-immortal There

There, where a roll-call will be read

There, where Truth crowns both hope and dread

There, where the place that we call Here

Will in a twinkle disappear

Thus, we are wise to contemplate

The awesome Prize that fools debate

And we would do well to prepare

Here, for forever’s over There

 

© Janet Martin

 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.…Ps. 103:15-16

Vera asked that we sing this song at the funeral service ...

O think of the home over there,
By the side of the river of light,
Where the saints, all immortal and fair,
Are robed in their garments of light.
Over there, over there,
O think of the home over there,
Over there, over there,
O think of the home over there.

O think of the friends over there,
Who before us the journey have trod,
Of the songs that they breathe on the air,
In their home in the palace of God.
Over there, over there,
O think of the friends over there,
Over there, over there,
O think of the friends over there.

My Savior is now over there,
There my kindred and friends are at rest,
Then away from my sorrow and care,
Let me fly to the land of the blest.
Over there, over there,
My Savior is now over there,
Over there, over there,
My Savior is now over there.

I’ll soon be at home over there,
For the end of my journey I see;
Many dear to my heart, over there,
Are watching and waiting for me.
Over there, over there,
I’ll soon be at home over there,
Over there, over there,
I’ll soon be at home over there.

Words: De­Witt C. Hunt­ing­ton, cir­ca 1873.

Music: Tul­li­us C. O’Kane 

Jesus is Coming
…"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Rev.22:16-17