I want to thank Reverend Neil and Petrie Memorial for their kindness during this time. I want to thank my family and friends who are here who traveled from afar. Coming to Elkton is a bit like coming home. Petrie was Dad's nice-cow church. It's an honor to stand here in this pulpit, the same pulpit my dad spoke from for eight years.
How does one begin to encapsulate such a rich life? He was a good father, caring Son and Husband, Brother, and Pastor to many. Some of you may not know that he was also at one time a volunteer fire figther. In addition, he enjoyed playing chess with death row inmates in Eddyville. Some of you may remember that he worked to improve race relations in this community. He loved traveling to the Holy Land and Ireland.
I want to leave you with three thoughts about my Dad. His buckets of Love, his Grace to endure, and how crowded he believed heaven will be.
Within the last year, my Dad read a book of poems called "Bucolics" by Maurice Manning. I'd like to read you one passage. The poem was written through the voice of a southern farmer who refers to God as Boss.
We're cut from the same cloth Boss
Though I am just a thread compared to you
O you cam do it all
You raise the wool up on the sheep
You put cotten in the patch
I'm just a string on the spindle Boss
That's all I'll ever be
When I see water running from a rock
I think you must be down there in the ground
You're a workhorse Boss like me
You work the pump
I work the bucket
Fair enough
We're tough as leather Boss
Tough as nails
We go together don't we
The way nip goes with tuck
We grin we bear it Boss
O does that ever cross your mind
God works the pump, and oh how dad worked the bucket sharing God's love with all of us.
Another thing Dad taught me was how to endure with Grace. He had 15 heart caths, and several surgeries on top of that. I've seen him going into surgery singing Irish drinking songs including, "They're moving father's grave to build a sewer." It's not that he had a high tolerance for pain. I believe it was his strong faith that helped him never feel sorry for himself. One of the last times were were in a restaurant, I offered him a seat at a table, and here's my dad on disability and he says, "I can't sit there. That's for handicapped people." He never gave up.
Finally, my Dad liked to say "There's going to be a lot more people in heaven than some people think." And Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place fo you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
I believe Dad has gone ahead, and one day will lead us home.
Amen.
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