Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Larry Paul Wakefield

NOTE:  I received a telphone call during supper yesterday asking if I could conduct a funeral service this morning for a beloved member of Central Christian Church, where I served as an Interim for two years.  The congregation's pastor, Johnna Mansuetto, was in the hospital and the caller was hoping I could cover for her.  The rest of the night consisted of a visit to the funeral home to check in with the family, a visit to the hospital to speak with Johnna about her insights for the funeral service, another visit with the family in the home.  The rest of the night was spent in writing this witness.  That I hadn't had much contact with Larry since leaving Central Christian became a hindrance in knowing what to say.  Fortunately, Johnna's perceptions and information helped to bridge the gap across the intervening years.  I guess this episode illustrates how in the midst of sudden circumstance changes, resources are sometimes available to fill-in, and what is needed is provided.

Larry’s pastor, Johnna Mansuetto, was admitted to the hospital unexpectedly yesterday and is undergoing medical testing today.  Surely, we are all concerned about her and pray that whatever her medical circumstance, it will be resolved without complication and she will soon be able to return to work.  She did ask me to convey her deep regret at not being able to be here for this celebration of the life of Larry Wakefield, and to let you know that her thoughts and prayers are with Margaret Ann and the others of you closest to Larry.

            Because of Larry’s faithful involvement in the church, which is where I knew him and came to appreciate him, the opportunity to have a part in this time of commemoration is gratifying.  Probably the characteristic that stood out most for me about Larry was his unpretentious, pleasant manner.  He was a man who had accomplished much, a person who traveled to more places than probably most of us here, and maybe a man who gave much more of his time and resources to worthwhile causes than any of the rest of us, but you would never have known that from spending time with him.  Only after his death did I learn the extent of his achievements and largess, which were considerable.

            His generous spirit was expressed in many ways including sizable donations to service organizations, establishment of college trust funds, a significant donation to the WVU Children’s Hospital, taking individuals who could not afford it to Mountaineer ball games, working as a paramedic with the Marion County Rescue Squad (a few moments ago I learned that Larry always reported for work at the squad wearing a white shirt so heavily starched that the creases were sharp enough to scratch your skin; yet, he didn’t shy away from the worst of scenes that first responders encounter, getting down in the sometimes messy business of saving lives).  Larry also volunteered to transport veterans to the VA Medical Center in Clarksburg.  These are just a few examples of Larry’s generosity.

              He was supportive of his church.  Most Sundays you could find him, Margaret Ann and “King” sitting together in the same pew where they always sat.  Larry could always be counted on to help out with the Christian Men’s Fellowship activities.  Quite the cook and baker, many are the times when Larry prepared sumptuous dishes and baked goods for church functions, and during one long stretch lasting several months, he provided made-from-scratch muffins, cakes, cookies for the Sunday coffee hour.  It’s no wonder that somehow Larry became in charge of keeping the church kitchen in shape, somewhat mystifying really that such a responsibility was wrested from the women.  (Makes you wonder just how thorough the women’s care of the kitchen was.)

            So an attribute that stands out for me when thinking of Larry is his generous spirit.  Larry and Margaret Ann could have lived far more lavishly, but they chose a simple lifestyle, perhaps so that resources could be conserved for where they can do the most good.

            Larry was also a lover of life, of nature and all things beautiful.  One of his favorite spots was Ascension Island, located near the equator on the Atlantic Ocean, half-way between the African and South American continents.  He was captivated by its wildlife, vegetation and clear waters and enchanted by its simple splendor.  His enjoyment of nature also included his own flower pot garden and an herb garden.  In the last days at Tygart Center, he received a gift of hand-picked flowers from a church member’s garden, but because his immune system was severely compromised, the staff placed it on the opposite end of his room.  Larry immediately ordered it brought closer so that he could see the colors better, and besides, he said, there was no need now to worry about his immune system.  His love of beauty took precedence over pointless medical routine.

            Larry was a man of his time musically, resonating with the rock and roll sounds of the Sixties and later.  Actually he was a Mick Jagger “groupie,” and he along with Margaret Ann and often their like-musically-minded friends traveled far and wide to attend Rolling Stones Concerts.  I must admit that imagining Larry, who to me was a pleasant, soft-spoken, quiet kind of guy, at a Mick Jagger concert is kind of jarring.  But it says something special about Larry’s zest and zeal for the expressions he found meaningful.

            Perhaps the most significant characteristic of Larry’s life we need to recall today is his deep devotion to his wife, Margaret Ann.  Because Larry’s work included extensive traveling for extended periods of time, he arranged it so that Margaret Ann could travel with him, and the two of them could continue their life together without long periods of absence.  Fortunately, Larry’s employer was enlightened enough to help facilitate such an arrangement, and Larry and Margaret Ann shared experiences of traveling together.

            Consequently, the two of them have forged a relationship that enabled them to face together the changing circumstances of their lives through the years.  And the quality of that relationship has been nowhere more obvious than in these recent years of overwhelming illness for both Margaret Ann and Larry.  Their devotion to each other through really life-altering developments has been inspiring to observe.  Indeed, Pastor Johnna reports that near the end, she asked Larry what one thing he wanted the world to know, and his response went something like this: “How much I loved my wife, and how much I want her to be cared for when I’m gone.”

            There is a time to be born and a time to die, wrote Ecclesiastes.  There is a time to resist death with all our being, to not go gently into death’s dark night.  Certainly, Larry did that.  He raged against the darkness of his worsening condition as long as he possibly could.  But there is also a time when death is welcomed as a friend; where it is a threshold one must cross to get to the other side, where death is a transition from life to life, a completing of the life lived to a new beginning in God’s continuing love and grace.  And Larry did that as well.  He told Pastor Johnna that he knew the end was close, and he was ready.

            It is not good that Larry suffered so long and died, but it is good that his suffering is over, and it is very good that he lived.  We have witnessed the goodness of God in the life of Larry Paul Wakefield, and in his death we can be thankful.

PRAYER

Gracious God of love, we praise you for the goodness we have sitnessed in the life of Larry Paul Wakefield.  The years slip through our minds like minutes when we think of him, and remembering the days we have had with him, we thank you for the providence that let us call him husband, brother, uncle, neighbor and friend.  For his love of people and faithfulness in relationships and his genuine care for others, for his devotion to his wife and other members of his family, for his unwavering service to the church and to other helping, healing agencies, for his steadfastness in the surging flood of daily duties and his unswerving perseverance in the face of overwhelming obstacles, for the delight he derived from the beauty of creation and for his enjoyment of life…that there were times when members of his family and his friends could share his burdens or smooth his road or ease his pain, these thoughts and memories are precious to us, O God, and we speak our gratitude for all that we have shared with Larry.

            Help us, O God, to know that Larry is safe in the loving embrace of your everlasting arms, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, and that he is at peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Sermon: Parting Words


Parting Words
Romans 5:1-5; Psalm 8; St. John 16:12-15
A Sermon Prepared and Delivered by James E. Norton, Guest Preacher
Vance Memorial United Presbyterian Church, Wheeling, WV
Trinity/Memorial Sunday, May 26, 2013

 
Doris, a beloved mother and grandmother, was in the hospital when suddenly her situation deteriorated rapidly, and the family was called in to be with her.  Sometimes we find it very difficult to accept what is happening to our loved ones.  During that critical time, family members were encouraging her to eat, but she just didn’t feel like it.  One of the family even said, “You made us eat all the time!” as if to suggest it was okay to do the same to her.  As loving families are wont to do, they were trying to stave off the inevitable, fussing over their Mom.  Finally, Doris had had enough and she shouted, “Sit Down and Shut Up!”  They did.  And a few hours later, she quietly slipped away, without saying another word.

Ancient Church tradition says that when a person is in extremis or dying, it’s very important to pay close attention to what he or she says, because in that stage of life it was believed that the individual was as close to God as one can be on this side of life.

Often we recall the last words spoken after a loved-one has died.  A man perhaps known to some of you, Dr. Bill Roberts, a Teaching Elder and official for many years in your own Presbytery, was friend, colleague, mentor, more like a brother really, to me.  The last words I heard him say the last time I saw him were: “You have been a good friend, Jim.”  Do you think I will ever forget those words?  No doubt, in the aftermath of the Oklahoma Tornado or the Sandy Hook shootings or Hurricane Sandy, loved ones of those who lost their lives have been reliving the moments shared and the words spoken before the tragic parting.  This Memorial Day week-end, set apart to honor those who have died in military service, likewise, will evoke cherished memories of final moments spent with the departed.

The Gospel Lessons in the worship services of most of our churches for the past five weeks have been coming from that portion of John’s Gospel known as the Farewell Discourse.  Jesus is in the Upper Room with his disciples sharing a Last Supper.  Jesus spends this time expressing his heartfelt hopes and prayers for his closest companions before he dies.  He assures them that everything will be okay and that while they too will face times of suffering, they will never be without God’s abiding presence and care.  The Spirit of Jesus will continue to be as close to them as their very breathing, strengthening them in the knowledge that they will always be in God’s good hands.

This morning’s portion of Jesus’ parting words to his disciples includes this line: “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”  Jesus knows that his followers will face new situations in the future and new tests of their faith that will require from them new ways of thinking and doing that they cannot possibly imagine in the present.  There will be things happen that Jesus cannot prepare them for ahead of time.  Jesus can teach the disciples nothing more.  He must let go of them and let them go in the hope that after he is gone, the Spirit will live on in them to lead them in ways of truth throughout the changing circumstances of their lives.

If only things didn’t have to change; if only everything could remain just the way it always has been.  No sooner does that yearning cross our minds than we realize how ridiculous it is.  Life moves on!  There is no way to stop time and space from their relentless rhythms of light and dark, joy and pain, good and bad.  Rather, we face the future with its wide range of possibilities in the hope that God’s sovereign presence is always for us and with us.  “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”  But when you come up against it in the days to come, you will learn what you need to know in a way that will enable you to respond as Christ did, courageously and graciously.

I am not dead, obviously, or I would not be standing here.  So my parting words have yet to be uttered.  But, in a sense, we all die many deaths before the last one.  Recently, I retired after 46 years of serving congregations as pastor.  That’s a kind of death, though in all honesty, retirement feels like I’ve died and gone to heaven.  Life among heaven’s people on earth is not always heavenly.  Indeed, my very first church as a student pastor began the second semester of my first year at West Liberty.  There was a woman in that small congregation whose name was Clara and whose mission in life seemed to be as troublesome to fledgling student pastors sent to serve her church as she could be.  Not since those days of serving that first church has anyone ever tested my right to be a pastor in ways that she didn’t think of first.  Complaining, condemning and caviling Clara was my epithet for her personality.

But one Sunday I arrived at the church earlier than usual and Sister Clara was the only other person there.  Surprisingly, the two of us somehow found ourselves in one of those rare conversations where the tone was decent and non-disparaging.  It was then that Clara revealed a part of her story that I never knew.  Her son was killed in the Korean Conflict and in listening to her story what really stunned me was how she described her reaction the day she received the dreaded news: “Killed in Action.”  She proudly stated: “From that day to this, I have never shed a single tear over my son’s death.”  Intuitively, I learned an invaluable lesson.  When people are being particularly aggravating, often their announced reasons are not the real reasons, and their so-called righteous indignation or other grievances may have more to do with more deeply imbedded issues.

Well, that was my first exposure to life as a pastor.  One would think that the sane thing to have done after that would have been to drop this whole ministry idea.  But then, there was the prospect of going to seminary, and surely after completing seminary things would be different.  Graduating from a reputable school of theology would convince people that I had earned the right to be their pastor, and there would be no obstacles once I had obtained my credentials.  Then ministry would be one grand procession marching onward and upward, and life in the church would be like basking in love, love, love.

Do I need to tell you that all 46 years in the ministry have included obstacles, failures, shattered dreams, misunderstandings, unjust accusations and even threats of bodily harm?  To be sure, there have been the other kinds of experiences as well—genuinely good times of mutual sharing, wondrous conversations, meaningful worship, heightened awareness, life-changing growth and heart-warming laughter; times when my sense of calling was confirmed and I knew that significant differences were taking place.  Had I known, however, when I began in the ministry that there would be the kinds of contentions and disappointments that have also been a part of the reality, I might have looked for some other way to fulfill my sense of calling.  So, Jesus’ words, “I have yet other things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” make sense.

And, thank goodness, at those times when the way was unclear and the difficulties hard to bear, there was my wife, Polly, or a trusted colleague in ministry (one of whom is present in this very worship service), or a caring member of the congregation gently tapping me on the shoulder and out of care speaking some suggestion or offering some encouragement or other word that pointed me in another direction.  Because the spirit of Jesus was present in others, I could hear and follow their suggestions to cut my losses or adapt or shift gears or forgive or exercise greater courage than ever before.  What I wasn’t prepared to hear before, I could do so now.  It came at those points where I desperately needed to know, and God’s modern-day messengers provided the new ways of seeing and acting that before I hadn’t imagined possible.

Jesus was close to the disciples; God grants us the gift of close companions in our lives.  But the day comes when we have to let go.  The time came when Jesus realized that he had to let go of his closest companions and that there was nothing more he could teach them.  And that day necessarily comes to us all, whether we move away or retire or bid farewell to loved ones in death.

“Sit Down and Shut Up!” was the outburst of one woman who knew there was nothing more she could do or that others could do for her.  The time had come when all that could be done was to sit still and simply be present.  Doris was absolutely correct.  Her final word says that when all else is finished, silence and loving presence are all that is needed.  And the affirmation of our faith is that we are always surrounded by that kind of love.  Thanks be to God.


Morning Prayer

For genuine gratitude for all the ways we experience life’s goodness because of one another, whether family or friends, through the miracle of dialog, the touch of flesh upon flesh, the gracious gifts of warmth and care, mutuality and intimacy,

  God hear our prayer: AND IN YOUR LOVE ANSWER.

For all who suffer from hunger and neglect, for refugees and those who are homeless, for children who do not know what it is to be loved, for those who suffer because of the insanity of war, for unemployed and underemployed persons, for those who are uncertain and apprehensive about the future, for those afflicted with illness and pain,

  God hear our prayer: AND IN YOUR LOVE ANSWER.

For the dear friends and family members whose faces we see no more, but whose love is with us forever; for those in the military, for first responders, and for all who have sacrificed themselves, our brothers and sisters who have given their lives for the sake of others,

  God hear our prayer: AND IN YOUR LOVE ANSWER.

For ourselves as we are forever crossing the boundary between endings and beginnings, that we may enter what is to come with thanks for all that has been, the joys and pains woven into our life together, and that whatever our fears and uncertainties about the future, we may know that we can face each new day confident that your strengthening presence is always with us and for us, and that we will know what we need to know when the time is right,

  God hear our prayer: AND IN YOUR LOVE ANSWER.