Service for John Klue, 13th February 2003:
Sentences
‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ says the Lord. ‘Those who believe
in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die.’
John 11.25,26
We brought nothing into the world, and
we take nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.
1 Timothy 6.7; Job 1.21b
Hymn
Abide with me,
fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens;
Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail,
and comforts flee,
help of the helpless,
O abide with me.
Swift to its close
ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim,
its glories pass away;
change and decay
in all around I see;
O thou who changest not,
Abide with me.
I need thy presence
ev’ry passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil
the tempter’s pow’r?
Who like thyself my guide
and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine,
Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe
with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight,
and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still,
if thou abide with me.
Hold thou thy cross
before thy closing eyes;
shine through the gloom,
and point me to the skies;
heav’n’s morning breaks,
and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord,
abide with me.
Henry Francis Lyte (1793 – 1847)
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
therefore can I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters.
He shall refresh my soul
and guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me
in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil
and my cup shall be full.
Surely goodness and loving memory shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
A Reading From Corinthians
Christ
has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have
died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of
the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam,
so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ
the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then
comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom of God the Father, after
he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he
must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last
enemy to be destroyed is death.
But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body
do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it
dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be,
but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God
gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own
body.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is
perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour,
it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.
For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal
body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on
imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the
saying that is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in
the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is
not in vain.
The Address
Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
Our
Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn
And did
those feet in ancient time
walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
on England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
till we have built Jerusalem
in England’s green and pleasant land.
William Blake (1757 – 1827)
The Committal
The Blessing
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Service details
The service took place at 3pm on Thursday 13th February 2003, at Mortlake
Crematorium in London.
Download the service notes.
Download the memorial photograph.
Death is Nothing At All
Death is nothing
at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect,
without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
- Henry Scott Holland
Don't weep for me
Don't weep for me
I hear you say,
I don't lie here within.
My shell resides below this earth,
My soul is in the wind.
Weep not for me, I am not here.
My voice is in the trees.
Look up, into the skies above,
Like clouds I wander free.
So don't stand here beside my grave,
Don't weep nor pine for me.
Remember all those happy times,
The things that used to be.
I am not here, I'm all around.
I am the wind, the rain.
Remember me as all these things.
Until we meet again.
I’m Free
Don’t grieve for
me, for now I’m free
I’m following the path God has laid you see.
I took His hand when I heard him call
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay
another day
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way
I found that peace at the close of day.
If my parting has
left a void
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened
with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I savored much
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.
Perhaps my time
seemed all too brief
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and peace to thee
God wanted me now; He set me free.
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