Into the Silence

For my friend, on the day of his burial

Tomorrow I will not be there when they lay you in the earth.

I will be here, in the silence, before God.

Nearly forty years cannot be gathered into words, nor can friendship be measured by its ending. There is gratitude. There is sorrow. There are things understood only now. And there are things that must simply be left with God.

So I will not try to say everything.

I will only pray.

May Christ, whom you sought and served through so many years, receive you into the place where every exile ends.

May every wound be healed, every burden laid down, every misunderstanding disappear in the light of His countenance.

May you discover that nothing given in love was ever lost.

And may the mercy you so often hoped for others now surround you without measure.

Go in peace, my friend.

Forgive me where I failed you.

Remember me before the Lord.

Until all things are made new.

Memory eternal.