Order of Service – Graveside Committal
Gathering
Placing of the Urns into the Earth
Welcome (We are all part of the Earth, we come from the Earth and we return to the Earth. This is a sacred cycle of life, death and new life.)
Sacred Poem - Gone From My Sight – by Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone." Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone," there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
And that is dying…
Scripture stories
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul,
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
John 14
Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live.
Celtic Prayer
Thank you for the remembrance of…., no longer with us; for her inspiring words, encouragement, love and support, an example for us to follow. May her legacy be seen in the people we have become, and may we always be thankful.
Ministry of Music Blackbird (Instrumental)
Act of Committal (As many persons who want can grasp a handful of the earth you have selected and scatter it onto the urns as I say these words.)
Creator, into your hands we commend your daughter… in sure and certain hope of eternal life through Jesus the Christ. Amen. This body we commit to the ground earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. (This is the cue to scatter earth.)
Blessing
Go with the love of God beating in your heart, the joy of God in your step, God’s courage running up your spine like iron, and God’s mischief in your eye. Go in peace. Amen.
Act of Closure (As many persons who want can take a flower and place it on the urn.)