Daley Ponderings

Statement of Purpose
We gather before God in remembrance of the life and death
of this child of God, Isaac Christopher Daley. We come to praise
God for life in the midst of death; for God's good understanding in
the face of bewildering sorrow; for the sharing of comfort with one
another; and to affirm our trust in the everlasting love of God. We
cling to the promise of God in Jesus Christ: Blessed are those who
mourn, for they shall be comforted. We come together in grief,
acknowledging our human loss. May God search our hearts, that in
pain we may find comfort, in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.
This service uses an Easter liturgy. It finds all its meaning in
the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too,
shall be raised. The service, therefore, is characterized by joy, in the
certainty that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. This joy, however,
does not make human grief unchristian. The very love we have for
each other in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted by
death. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend. So, while we
rejoice that one we love has entered into the nearer presence of our
Lord, we sorrow in sympathy with those who mourn.

Scripture Readings
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (Phil Daley)

Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
-- Matthew 19:14 (Joshua Daley?)

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has
crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming
and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of
God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in
himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he
has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
-- John 5:24-27 (Jill Wenker)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are
wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For
our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal
glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but
what is unseen is eternal.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Joshua Daley?)

Prayer
God of all hopefulness, we gather with Jon and Heather
mourning the loss of their son, Isaac. They shared with us such
hopes for this child. They dreamed such big dreams. All of us took
much joy in the promises of life to come - promises that can never
be.
Loving God, do not abandon us to our questioning and
hopelessness. Do not take your Holy light from us. Help of the
helpless, we give Isaac into your hands. Hold him close to your
heart. Wrap him round in your love and care. God of all
hopefulness, through the power of Christ within us, bind us all closer
to one another and to you.
Accept now our hopes and dreams which cannot now be
fulfilled on this earth, and bless Isaac with the fullness and
wholeness of life lived out eternally in your loving presence. In the
knowledge that it is not your will that the least of your children
should perish, we entrust Isaac to your tender care. Take our love
and add it to yours that he may be richly blessed.
Caring God, our everlasting Friend, we know you as one who
calls children to you with outstretched arms. We do not understand
what has happened, and can only feel grief-stricken that Isaac is no
longer with us. But we know Jesus and the great love he has for
every man, woman, and child - a love of self-giving for others that
they may live eternally with you.
We entrust Isaac to your loving care, for we know your love
for him is greater than our own. Look after him and bring his life to
wholeness within the fellowship of those who love you. Amen.

Hymn Amazing Grace

Meditation Rev. Carlton Daley

Prayer
God of Heaven and earth, in your Son Jesus Christ you have
given us a true faith and a sure hope. Strengthen this faith and hope
in us all our days, that we may live as those who believe in the
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to
eternal life; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflections
Heather Daley
Linda Wightman

Committal
Loving God, give us faith to believe, though this child has
died, that you welcome him and will care for him, until, by your
mercy, we are together again in the joy of your promised kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the stillness of this place we turn to God who is our
beginning and our end. From dust we have been made and to dust
we return. With reverence we gather to thank God for the gift of
Isaac to us, and to commit his earthly body to the ground with the
confidence that neither life nor death can separate us from the love
of God we know in Christ Jesus.

Hymn It Is Well With My Soul

Closing Prayer
O God whose beloved Son took children into his arms and
blessed them: give us grace to entrust Isaac to your never-failing
care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon
you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give
you peace. Amen.