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when we gather in memoriam
when we gather together in the face of death
it is usual and common
to offer up a eulogy
to speak about the accomplishments of the lives
we remember
but what can we say on an occasion like this
what can we say about that which binds together
those we remember today
we can say they were homeless
and therefore they faced all the realities
of homelessness
of aloneness of separation of alienation
of violence and disease and ultimately death
but to truly eulogize these people
i think we need to speak about what they know in death
more than what they knew in life
in death they recognize, they know, they sense
their spiritually aware
that nothing in all that is, is disconnected
that all lives intertwine into one life
one giant being that we call existence
so they know now something that we only guess at in faith
that there is no separation
that there is no alienation
that there is nothing
which we in life can do that can separate us
from the very being of being
they know what we can only suspect
than in everything we do
we relate intrinsically
with every other person
we cannot separate ourselves
even if we try
to do so
we are all connected
we are all
in one existence
and therefore they reach out from their deaths into our lives
with a message for us
for too many there will be the longest night tonight
for some of those same people
there are too many long days
there are too many times when they walked the streets
that people turn away from them
there are too many times they hear the word no
put to a simple request and so we are called upon
we are called upon to eulogize these lives
by changing our lives
by never turning away from another human face
by never saying no to the simple request
of love and care and attention
we are called upon by their deaths
and by our being alive
to at least grace
the face of every other human being we need
with our open gaze directly at them
a kind word, a greeting
would it hurt us so much
to say to each person we meet
hello
often that is all it would have taken to transform a homeless day of
separation
into a day of human meaning
and so this is what we remember this day about these people
as father steven said these mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and
sisters
aunts and uncles
children of existence itself
that they were owed our respect
and they ask us now to pass it on to everyone we meet
to be willing to meet the eyes
grasp the hands
and gave the words of hope and faith
by which they never forget and we never forget
that we are all connected in this one thing
called life
and so the commitment is not of committing their remains to a vault
but rather the commitment of making our lives a living testimony
that no one
should ever go forward in life
feeling dishonored
alone
alienated
unloved
may that be the spirit of this time and in every day to come
as we remember this hour together
and all the other hours in our lives
blessed be