INTRODUCTION OF 2024 Faith & Grief Memorial Arch Co-Chairs Lisa O’Bryant. Faith & Grief Board Chair
WORDS OF WELCOME Dawn & David Hall, 2024 Faith & Grief Memorial Arch Co-Chairs
CALL TO WORSHIP (responsively)
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
God’s mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore, I will hope in the LORD. Lamentations 3:22-24
OPENING PRAYER Pallivi Reddy-Barrett
In the darkness that encircles us all around and shuts our vision, do Thou, Lord, rise like the sun and dispel the darkness with Thy Light Divine. May all be freed from danger. May all realize it is good. May all be motivated by noble thoughts. May all rejoice everywhere. May all be happy. May all be free from diseases. May all realize what is good and healthy. May none be subject to misery. O Lord, lead us from the unreal to the Real. Lead us from darkness to Light. Lead us from death to Immortality! Peace, peace, peace be unto all!
Almighty God! Lord of humankind: remove the hardship and release the sick of their sickness. Ease the suffering and heal them as you are the healer. There is no cure except through Your healing. Help us to be steadfast and make our faith well-established. Grant us a healthy heart and a truthful tongue. Set right our affairs and forgive us our sins, our wrongs, our mistakes, and shortcomings. Amen
from the Hindu Tradition
Psalm 23 Cantor Vicky Glikin, Temple Emanu-El
I Peter 1:3-9 The Reverend Jackie Linden-Schade
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who, through faith, are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation, which is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
An Islamic Understanding of Grief Dr. Shazia R. Anwar
Grief
Like the Day and Night are a pair, so are Grief and Joy. Without each other one is unable to appreciate fully how each shapes our lives. Quran Surah Fajr 89.15,16
-As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honor and gifts, he says (puffed up): “My Lord has honored me.”
-But when He tries him, by straitening his means of life, he says, “My Lord has humiliated me.”
Therefore, remembering Allah during the highs of life and trusting His wisdom during the lows is what is hallmark of a strong faith .
(2:155) We shall certainly test you by afflicting you with fear, hunger, loss of properties and lives and fruits. Give glad tidings, then, to those who remain patient; (2:156) those who when affliction strikes them, say: “Verily, we belong to Allah, and to Him we return.”156 (2:157) Upon them will be the blessings and mercy of their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.
While emotional highs can be seen as the wind of our life, grief can be seen as the anchor that grounds us to the realities of life.
Peace be with you all!
PERSONAL REFLECTION Lindsey Encinias, Thrive Strategy and Education Manager, Grant Halliburton Foundation
MOURNER’S KADDISH Margie Shor, Sherith Israel
Jewish mourners often recite the Kaddish during times of bereavement or on the anniversary of the death of a loved one. This prayer is spoken collectively.
Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, raises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create people for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
BENEDICTION The Reverend Diane Pennington