Our church is frequently used for funerals and services of thanksgiving. Many who attend have not been in church since their own wedding or even perhaps since their own baptism, so the experience provides a great opportunity for reconnection and a rekindling of spiritual longings. The sacred surroundings, the solemn words, and the uplifting music are reminders of all that is natural and heart-felt about our regular worship and praise.
Last Wednesday saw a thanksgiving service for a distinguished man, and a huge crowd of the great and good flocked to the church. The address, given by a surviving colleague, reminded the congregation of the deceased’s abiding attraction for beautiful landscape, which had led him to write these words:
“Thou canst not see her valleys green,
The star-aspiring hills between,
Thou canst not with these wonders seen,
Declare there is no God.”
Here he seems to have been echoing the words of Elizabeth Fry who “looked through nature up to nature’s God” implying a proof of God’s existence in the wonders of nature, the so-called “argument from design” or the “teleological argument” for God.
However, the eulogy also contained these words: “His early experiences at [school], at [college] and in the Army shaped his life and contributed to his success, but I am convinced that a fundamental contribution was also made by his biblical faith and his family life.” So the bible had been another inspiration for Lord Bingham of Cornhill, KG PC QC FBA who had been Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and a senior law lord.
The eulogy concluded with this statement: “It is entirely fitting that we should be gathered to give thanks for his life in this ancient house of God that has occupied such a central role in our nation’s history, a history of which he was such a devoted student.” The service was in Westminster Abbey.
Will I have words such as these said at my funeral at Chilwell Road?
[information from The Times]