Our Heavenly Father,
In our sea of sadness and through our blur of tears,
we join here today to thank you for our dear Kathryn,
to celebrate her life,
and to seek some measure of comfort and joy.
Comfort in knowing that Kathryn’s long and brave suffering is over
Joy in knowing that she is united to you.
Comfort in the painlessness of her passing.
Joy in having had the rich gift of knowing and loving Kathryn as our dear sister… wife…mother… grandmother… and friend.
Help us to know comfort and joy as we celebrate her life.
We thank you
For the child who built cities in her sandbox,
And for the woman whose gifted hands built sturdy stone walls, baked breads, sewed, and planted.
We thank you for this mother who conjured up cereal ice cream to entice a reluctant young daughter to eat.
And we thank you for the ways she has nourished us all.
We thank you
For Kathryn’s keen and curious intellect
For her wisdom,
For her insights and ability to puzzle out any problem.
For her knowledge on countless topics— which she displayed so modestly,
For her quiet competence,
For her love of beauty,
and her gifts of leadership
We thank you for this woman so clearly created in your image:
For her sweet gentleness and warmth,
For her resolute courage and compassion
For her selflessness
For her generosity with her time and with her heart
And for the radiance of her innermost spirit.
We thank you for Kathryn
Who touched so many lives with such a gentle manner.
In a world in which listening usually means waiting for your turn to talk
Kathryn listened in a totally different way, with all her heart and all her mind and all her soul,
For this we thank you.
And take comfort and joy that she listened in a way that in some small way reflects how you listen, dear Lord,
In a world in which time drives and divides us
Kathryn was timeless, totally present, meeting us with open arms, mind and heart with no hint of rushing from or to the next something,
For this we thank you.
And take comfort and joy that she now has leaped the bounds of time to join you in eternity
An eternity where there is no yesterday or tomorrow, only your eternal present.
We thank you for how you drew her ever closer to you in the last months of her life. We thank you for preparing her for her crossing.
As our hearts bend under the aching loss of this dear one, we ask that you give us courage and comfort, Lord. Fill the holes in our hearts with your presence and your love. Help us to imagine Kathryn as she is now, knit to you, completely healed, skipping and dancing as freely as she did as a child, radiant and overflowing with love.
God rest you, Mary Kathryn.
To God be the glory.
(written and read by Debby Clowney)
