a prayer at my mother's funeral

Yesterday we held a Memorial Service for my mother, Anne Searcy. Her obituary is here.  The text for the service was Matthew 5:1-16 (The Beatitudes). My role in the service was to lead the Prayer of Thanksgiving and Supplication. Here is that prayer ...

You speak your Word -
        Where there was darkness there is light.

You speak your Word -
        Where there was death there is life.

You are the Speaker,
             the Maker,
             the Giver.
We are recipients of your creativity.
Our life is gift from You
And, when we remember, we are knee deep in gratitude.

Today we are knee deep in gratitude for Anne.
We picture the joy of Dot and Reg as they first hold their little Mary Anne
           and bring her home to sister Joan.
We recall eight decades and more of simple blessings, painful struggles, friendships,
           marriage, children … life.
Now, as we lay her to rest, we bring gratitude for the lifetime of gifts you have given through Anne …

          gifts of energy and determination
          gifts of passion and compassion
          gifts that we remember before you in gratitude now …

Even knee deep in gratitude we notice the ache …
          the ache of our neighbours, near and far
          the ache of the earth and its creatures
          the ache within our own bones and souls
                   and we turn to You
                       for You are the One with the power to bless away the ache

So, we pray,
           bless George … bless him, bless us, through grief into newness …

Bless the poor in spirit
             the grief-stricken
             the lost souls
             the dying and the dead
             those in despair at the state of affairs within and without.
Welcome them as citizens of Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Bless those who hunger and thirst for You and Your cruciform justice
             those who risk your unexpected mercy
             those who leave the path of vengeance to join the pilgrimage to reconciliation.
Fill them, have mercy on them, satisfy their longing for Your shalom to increase.

Bless those whose trouble we know and remember before you now …

In Jesus Christ, crucified and risen You have entered history with news …
             news that with You there is no such thing as a dead end.
When we see no future,
                      no way out
                      no reason for hope
You see a time to speak,
              a time to make,
              a time to bless,
              a time to break through to the other side of death into life.

We long to believe that You are able and willing to bear us through the darkness into the light.
Send Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon this earth like a breath of fresh air.
So inspire our hearts and minds with trust in Your power to make new
           that our distinctive, salty lives point to You, the source of our hope.

We pray in the name of Jesus,
in whom Your kingdom comes even here, even now …
the One who taught us when we pray to say "Our Father …"