Eulogy for a Tragedy

I had a call one Monday years ago from an acquaintance asking me to call her back.  When I called, she told me that she needed help with something to say at her sister’s funeral.  I did not know her sister at all.  I asked what information she could provide about her sister.

The response was quite significant.  Her sister was the person that had shot the repair shop manager in Columbus and then killed herself.  I commented that there would be major karma involved in this act.  She told me that she thought her sister had worked out a lot of karma in this lifetime.  I told her I would ask Spirit for the words and that I would send them to her later that day.  The funeral was the next evening.

These are the words that I sent back to the woman that requested them.  They are directly from Spirit, and I did the best I could to convey them as they were given.  I did not hear back from the woman, which may mean that she found them unacceptable.  I offered to attend the service if she wished.  In the end, this Spirit message may have not been used at all.  As I write this now, my acquaintance has passed, and I can finally publish this eulogy.

Eulogy for B

When a tragedy happens, we often focus on the last event in a person’s life.  With B, this focus ignores 53 years of a good life that ended in frustration, anger and ultimately ended the life of B and another person.

We know that the taking of another person’s life, and the taking of one’s own life, involves many other people.  For these people, there is great hurt and sadness.  Those here this evening feel this hurt and pray for all those involved to heal as best they can.

For B, we know that her soul will continue to exist and she will continue to progress on her soul journey.  We cannot know the exact thinking that led B to her actions in the last minutes of her life.  It is a moment of insanity when a person is reduced to believing that there is only one choice to make.  B experienced that moment, and today we grieve her passing.

As spiritual beings, we know that no person is ever beyond redemption.  All souls are created as part of the Creator, and B remains a child of the Creator.  B will review this life with her Guides and Teachers to prepare her to continue upon her Spirit Path.  She remains loved by those here today, and she feels that love now, at the moment of this service.  God loves everyone, no matter what they do.  God loves everyone.

I ended the message with a YouTube connection to a song by Ron Sexsmith called God Loves Everyone.  These are Sexsmith’s comments about writing the song.

The almost hymn-like “God Loves Everyone” was written as Ron’s response to the shocking 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. “The crime itself was horrible enough,” says Sexsmith, “but I remember reading about the trial, where there were these folks standing outside with signs saying, ‘God hates fags’ or “Burn in hell fags.’ I couldn’t believe that people could actually have those kinds of thoughts. That’s where the song started for me. From there, I got in to just trying to write a song about unconditional love, I guess.”

These are the lyrics. 

God Loves Everyone

God loves everyone
Like a mother loves her son
No strings at all
Unconditional
Never one to judge
Would never hold a grudge
‘Bout what’s been done
God loves everyone

There are no gates in heaven
Everyone gets in
Queer or straight
Souls of every faith
Hell is in our minds
Hell is in this life
But when it’s gone
God takes everyone

Its love is like a womb
It’s like the air from room to room
It surrounds us all
The living and the dead
May we never lose the thread
That bound us all

The killer in his cell
The atheist as well
The pure of heart
And the wild at heart
Are all worthy of its grace
It’s written in the face
Of everyone
God loves everyone

There’s no need to be saved
No need to be afraid
Cause when it’s done
God takes everyone

God loves everyone

© Copyright
Ron Sexsmith

http://youtu.be/uaAZ0xr4r2k

My final thought on this whole event is that both B and her victim have passed.  The acquaintance that requested this eulogy has also passed. The consequences of this act is not finished.  At some point, their souls will encounter each other, and they will discuss the lessons learned.  We do not know the relationship of these two people before, here or in the future.  We do know that God Loves Everyone.

Go With Grace and Peace.
© Copyright 2011
Rev. Jim Hetzer