Jerry Komorech:  

To my classmates and friends, make sure you read through to the end. There's plenty of love and grace to be shared. I leave it up to you to pick-up the torch and share with those you love. "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross The three most influential men in my life were Jimmy Hodges, Ray Swanson,and Chuck Jolson. Their bodies were broken but their minds were as sharp as tacks. The years we spent together were the most fulfilling of my life. They taught me acceptance at a level not known to most people and a willingness to share unconditional love. I'm successful today because they loved me when I was unlovable. I miss their wisdom as they have passed on. Jimmy used to tell me to pick up the torch and find someone to share the secrets. Chuck just kept encouraging me. We used to go all over Chicago trying to pass the secret to someone. Ray had the line for a lifetime. He always said to us, " You're as sick as your deepest secret." I learned the most from Ray. Profit by Ray's one liner and do the hard work to be successful. I share love with people today because of Jimmy, Ray and Chuck. They also taught me how to listen. Jimmy used to say listen more with your ears than with your mouth. Then he'd follow-up with, "People know what you're about. All you have to do is show up and listen.. They'll tell you what you need to know." So, today I'm all about listening to peoples' stories and building their faith with the help of God's grace and a little spiritual counseling. Acceptance and unconditional love is what it's all about. The following was written for another friend who shared her wisdom with all she cared for. I was her pastor through life, through her husband's death, through serious illness, through hospice, and through her death. This is her memorial sermon. It touched the lives of about 300 people that day. May it touch your life as well. Tak For Alt, Pat 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN C.S. Lewis was one of the twentieth century’s greatest theologians and writers. When C.S. Lewis’ wife died, he explained to his friends that the pain of her loss was not localized in one particular area of his life but that it made everything about his life different. I want to share with you something that you and C.S. Lewis have experienced that makes everything different in your life, too. One of the most difficult tasks in life to accept is the death of a loved one. Nothing can prepare us for such a task. Children are not supposed to precede parents or grandparents in death. The death of an elderly person or an adult brings pain and sometimes leaves us with many questions. But the death of a child just crushes us with total surprise, deep grief and a sense of hopelessness. In ministry at times like these I hear, “It’s not fair,” and the big one, “Why.” The death of a child is one of the worst ‘unfairs’ of living in this sinful world and certainly the biggest ‘why’ of all times. As I sought the Lord for words to share with you in this memorial service before Mother’s Day, He brought me to this story about a friend who spent an enjoyable summer touring Scandinavia. One particular week found him in Denmark. One day he took a short bus trip to Copenhagen and then to a small town on the bay, where a festival was going on. Without knowing a word of Danish, he enjoyed the music, the street dancing, the local food and the strong coffee. Eventually, just as the sun was beginning to set, he found himself in the courtyard of an old stone church across the street. The courtyard was a mixture of garden and cemetery, unspeakably peaceful. Walking among the tombstones he came upon one that marked the resting place of a young woman who had lived just 29 years, from 1907 to 1936. The legend on the stone read: “Tak For Alt.” An elderly lady, who was evidently visiting the grave of a loved one, came over and translated the words for him: “Thanks for Everything.” A father and mother had lost a daughter, at the age of 29, but on her tombstone they engraved: “Thanks for Everything.” His first reaction was to think, “How beautiful.” It was only right to thank God for the deceased. Similarly, it is only right for us to thank God for Pat. Though He loaned her to us for only 83 years we all have been blessed by her life. Though her life seemed a rough one from time to time, she was a joyful mother to you and a friend to many. The outpouring of thoughts and feelings from Beacon Hill staff and residents as well as friends are an indication of how well she was loved and how she touched others for good. Perhaps the best that we can do is to let our minds fill with the thought of her on this Mother’s Day weekend. Think of one of the best things you loved about Pat. Do you have that firmly planted in your mind? Was she a tremendous blessing to you in that way? Then use that every day to say, “Thank you Lord for Pat.” Give yourself permission to say it out loud several times a day, “Thank you Lord for Pat.” I believe that it is only right to thank God for Pat. Back to our story. After my friend thought about how sweet it was for the parents to put such a thing as, “Thanks for Everything” on their daughter’s tombstone, he started to have a different reaction. He thought, “Isn’t this sentiment too noble to be real? Couldn’t any parent possibly feel totally thankful to God upon the death of a beloved child?” It is only natural to be honest with your feelings to the Lord for taking Pat. Anger is almost always a part of the grieving process, even in the death of an elderly person. But God is big enough to handle all of your questions and all of your anger. Only the Lord knows how difficult Pat’s death is to you. She was your mother, your grandmother,, your great grandmother, and friend. Her going leaves you and all who knew her with such heartache and emptiness on this Mother’s Day weekend. Oh, that the Lord would have all of us ready to accept the death of those we love and just trust that He is doing what is best. How many of us can do that fully? On the outside we may fool each other, but inside there are questions and disappointment and possibly anger. You many have questions, too. If we approach God in prayers just as Jesus did, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” then we too can ask our questions. I can’t guarantee that God will grant us an answer or even grant an answer we want to hear, but He can help us to move on with unanswered questions. He will never take the place of the emptiness that Pat’s death has left, but eventually He will help you live in His plan and His purpose once again. Back to our story. My friend had another reaction about the words, “Tak For Alt.” He remembered that it takes time to have a tombstone made. The legend on that stone did not arise out of the parents first, raw grief. Between their daughter’s death and their selection of those three words, they had some time – time to express their true feelings to God. And, as the story goes, my friend came to believe the parents were developing a growing tr...Expand for more