Satisfied
Psalm 103:1-5
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and
mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live*
so that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s.
We’re here together today because Florence’s time to die had
come. We’ve lost someone we loved,
loved a lot, for a very long time.
So we cry. We grieve. We embrace one another. That is what we do when someone we love
dies.
But it’s not all about grief and sadness today. Florence lived to a good old age. She hit that sweet spot I think all of
us would choose if we were able to write our own ending. She did not die too soon and miss out
on too much of life’s sweetness.
She did not live too long; despite her physical limitations, Florence
had amazing light and life within her.
She looked forward to each day with joy. Even her physical therapists were amazed at her sunny
outlook and energy and stubborn determination to keep living as well as she
could. And, thanks be to
God, her death was not drawn out.
Her last days were spent peacefully, without pain, surrounded by her
children and her grandchildren.
Everyone got to say goodbye.
For that, I know Florence’s family is truly grateful.
It’s not all about grief and sadness today because it is
also a time to keep and laugh over all of the good memories we have of
Florence. For me, I will never
forget the way her face lit up when Tom and I went to visit her. She was always ready with cookies and
candy and a good story about her grandchildren in whom she took so much delight
and pride. And I was so grateful
for her prayers and her encouragement and the way she always made a point to
ask me about my family, particularly my son whom she saw only once a year when
we came at Christmas time to sing carols for her. She was one of the folks that I would say formed me as a
pastor in a very real way. I am
sad that I’ll no longer be able to sit and chat and laugh and pray with her in
her cozy living room. But I am
happy that she’s completely safe now in the arms of Jesus.
It’s not all about grief and sadness today because days like
this provide a time for peace and love.
It’s a day to reacquaint ourselves with folks from whom we may have
drifted away and touch base with one another as family and friends connected by
this incredible lady we have come to celebrate.
So here we are.
As the great mystic Julian of Norwich put it, we are feeling a
“marvelous mixture of well-being and woe.” Life is sort of always like that, but days like today make
that more apparent.
Florence did not miss out on life’s good stuff, but she
didn’t miss out on life’s bad stuff either. Nobody gets through life without a certain level of sorrow
and disappointment. But what we most certainly know about Florence is that her
deep faith sustained her. She
faced many challenges, yet emerged from those challenges renewed thanks to her
reliance on God’s goodness and mercy and blessing.
It is not surprising that one of Florence’s favorite
scripture texts was from the Psalm you just heard read. Psalm 103:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as
you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
But in Biblical terms, being satisfied as the psalmist
describes it means being deeply grateful.
Satisfied means being overwhelmed by the overflowing goodness of
God. Satisfied mean remembering
all the good things God gives to us and trusting in God’s love and mercy. Satisfied is a deep sense of
thankfulness for all that is good in our lives. And so much of Florence’s life was good because she chose to
see life as sheer gift. She lived
from a position of great gratitude.
When I arrived at the church a few years ago, I was
astonished to meet the half dozen or so women who defied all of my
pre-conceived notions of what a "little old lady" should act and look like. I
have been trying to figure out how it is these women who live well into their
90’s manage to be so incredibly awesome.
I have learned so much from them.
Here’s a couple of things I’ve observed about Florence and
all of the so-called "little old ladies" of this congregation…
They do not hold back from loving deeply. Several of them have loved and lost,
and some of those losses have been incredibly painful. But they go on loving anyway. Nancy told me that Florence said she’d
gone through at least four sets of friends in her long lifetime. When you live to be 95, I guess that’s
inevitable. Some of the friends
died. Some moved away. But loss of people dear to her didn’t
stop Florence from reaching out to new people, make new friends, and love them
just as dearly.
Second, they keep their priorities straight. And for all of these long-lived women,
their first priority is family.
They keep their focus on the people God entrusted to their care. Florence loved her children and
grandchildren, fiercely. And those
children and grandchildren responded to that love by flourishing in the way
well-loved people usually do flourish.
And best of all, those children and grandchildren have grown up to
become loving people themselves.
Lastly, these are all women who are deeply faithful and
thankful. They are SATISFIED
people, in the best sense of the word.
Florence knew who she was, and to whom she belonged, in life and in
death. When she was frightened,
she trusted Jesus to keep her strong.
When she was sick, she trusted Jesus to be with her in her pain. When she was with the people she loved,
her youth was renewed like an eagle again and again by the Lord she loved
deeply.
Any questions that Florence might have had about life and
about death have been answered for her.
She has entered into eternal life with her Savior. And when she met
Jesus face to face, I have no doubt that his face lit up. Florence had that in common with Jesus,
I think. His face lights up when
he is with the people he loves.
The rest of us still living have plenty of questions still
about life and death, love and loss. We’re not satisfied. We know we have work to do.
But we can live lives in the manner that Jesus taught us,
and that Florence did her best to follow in this life:
To love deeply and unconditionally.
To love the people God has put in front of us, and all
around us. Our family, neighbors
and friends.
To love God, trusting that God’s provision is certain and
secure. We can live satisfied
lives, knowing we are God’s children.
And nothing can ever separate us from the love of God made known to us
in Christ Jesus.
When I think of Florence, I am reminded of the lyrics of the
old Shaker hymn:
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true
simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend
we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will
be our delight,
Till by turning,
turning we come 'round right.
'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of
"me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.
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