Today is All Saint`s Day, and, it`s also the day which is/was my Dad`s birthday.
Our church holds a Special service most years on or around All Saint`s Day, as a time of remembering our loved ones who have died. So, today with both dates falling on the Sunday I found it a very significant time.
As we all arrived this evening we were given a stone. The service was based on an Iona style one, and had lots of periods of quiet when we could think about our loved ones and remember them. I found this year that I was remembering lots of the happy times, times of things I had shared doing with my Dad, rather than thinking about his illness and the last few months of his life. I had taken with me a small photo of him, which I put inside my hymn book - the book which was his and which his hands had held so many times. He has somehow felt quite close to me today.
During the service we brought our stones to the front and placed them in front of the cross to make a cairn and later tea-lights were placed amongst and on the stones. These we then came forward and lit in remembrance of our loved ones. It was a very moving and meaningful service.
1 comment:
It takes a few years to move on into memories of happy times rather than of final illness and death. Glad you're getting there.
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