Today is the burial mass. The deacon gives us instructions on what to do, when to enter, where to sit, and when to bring up the “gifts”, the bread and wine for the mass. My partner and I do this. My brother is here with his partner, one of this kids and their partner. We all do what we are told. We bring up the “gifts” unconsecrated. After they are transubstantiated, they are gifts only for the practicing reconciled Catholics among us. That is the way of things and it is OK with me.
Back when my partner and I were getting married, her dad who was a Lutheran minister and later the Lutheran Bishop for our part of the country, took the care to tell me that I was welcome at communion. I did not need to abstain, no matter what I believed, no matter my status.
I am uncomfortable in religious settings in general because I am not a believer…….in religion. I believe in the trees and the seas.
When I was young and in the presence of an unhappy family, we took a vacation to the San Bernadino Mountains, and we were allowed to spend as much time outside among the trees as we liked. That first young life visit to the tall pines soothed my troubled soul. In the midst of the trees, I felt a part of everything. I felt benevolence. I was welcome there.
For most of my adult life, I have had the extraordinary privilege of living among the tall firs, hemlocks, and cedars of the Pacific NorthWest right at the edge of the Salish Sea with a partner who loves me. With a partner I love. With a father-in-law that invites me to communion whenever I want to attend.
Today, I honored my sister’s faith, which is not my own. My sister was a devoted believer and I have been honored to participate in her faith, which does not include me. At the service, I spoke not of her devotion, but of the joy of her laugh and how I will both miss it and treasure its memory which will never leave me. It was a testament to our family difference and our family union.
This was followed by an exhaustive session with my sister’s lawyer, to take care of her legacy of living, which was followed by beer, which was followed by my partner appearing in the living room of my sister’s house in a choir robe with blues brother’s glasses. What a great life I have. What a great sister I had and still have in the laugh that reverberates in my spirit this evening. Good night again dear ones.
— DanielSouthGate
Back when my partner and I were getting married, her dad who was a Lutheran minister and later the Lutheran Bishop for our part of the country, took the care to tell me that I was welcome at communion. I did not need to abstain, no matter what I believed, no matter my status.
I am uncomfortable in religious settings in general because I am not a believer…….in religion. I believe in the trees and the seas.
When I was young and in the presence of an unhappy family, we took a vacation to the San Bernadino Mountains, and we were allowed to spend as much time outside among the trees as we liked. That first young life visit to the tall pines soothed my troubled soul. In the midst of the trees, I felt a part of everything. I felt benevolence. I was welcome there.
For most of my adult life, I have had the extraordinary privilege of living among the tall firs, hemlocks, and cedars of the Pacific NorthWest right at the edge of the Salish Sea with a partner who loves me. With a partner I love. With a father-in-law that invites me to communion whenever I want to attend.
Today, I honored my sister’s faith, which is not my own. My sister was a devoted believer and I have been honored to participate in her faith, which does not include me. At the service, I spoke not of her devotion, but of the joy of her laugh and how I will both miss it and treasure its memory which will never leave me. It was a testament to our family difference and our family union.
This was followed by an exhaustive session with my sister’s lawyer, to take care of her legacy of living, which was followed by beer, which was followed by my partner appearing in the living room of my sister’s house in a choir robe with blues brother’s glasses. What a great life I have. What a great sister I had and still have in the laugh that reverberates in my spirit this evening. Good night again dear ones.
— DanielSouthGate
I feel so privileged to read this, to experience this window into your life, her life, their lives. I sought to find a phrase or a sentence to copy and say "this is the truth I find here." And I find only truth. Again, feeling privileged to witness your story.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful passage about being with the trees. I like the way you have, all along, placed those personal private revelations in with the descriptions of what's going on now with your sister's funeral and related events. (Macoff)
ReplyDelete