We come together on this day to remember the life, body temporal and eternal, of one whom we have loved dearly...our Son, Brother, Uncle & Father. Charlie. He has lived in our hearts and shall live there forever.

We release what was, letting go of the anger, and making room for what shall be, as we testify within our minds that life does not end but merely transmutes, that today we say good-bye and yet we also say hello. We say good-bye to the physical focus of our relationship with Charlie, and greet the relationship with his soul that now begins anew.

And, so it is that our coming together today is twofold: We are here to say good-bye: releasing what has been, the very human drama of our love for Charlie. Yet we also open our hearts today, finding forgiveness, and finding comfort in our shared stories, our histories.

Through the grace of God, the dead do not die. They live forever, in God's mind and in our hearts ~ as Charlie will live on in ours...our relationship with him is reborn through the grace of God, and we will be with him again someday. Whom God has given to us, no one and nothing can take away.

Whom He brings together shall be together unto all eternity. For GOD is more powerful than death. We celebrate not the worldly passing of this tortured soul, although we certainly feel it's sting. Rather, we celebrate the life, the memories, the opportunity to say we knew and loved this man.

Let us look forward to the resurrection by which Charlie and we shall live forever.

Then we prayed...

Dear God,

We pray for the spirit of Charlie, our beloved son, father, brother, and and friend.

Take him into Your arms, dear Lord, and bring peace to his troubled soul. May his freedom from earthly ties, and transition be gentle and sweet.

We know of all the beloved people who will mourn him, and we watch as a glorious angel of God now ties the golden cord of eternal life at one end to Charlie's heart and at the other end to the heart of everyone who so receives him.

God's power blesses and sustains us, and holds firm our relationships, through life and through death. Through the glory of God and the mercy of God and the majesty of God, may love still live forever and forever.

Dear Beloved God...please uphold us through this sorrow and this loss, as we grieve and release Charlie unto your merciful and healing arms. We loved him so dearly and he shall be so sorely missed.

Be our strength at this time, that we might yet see the truth of the world as You created and intended it to be. That there is no death, that Charlie still lives, and in You we still live with him.

Thank you so much Lord for the gift of your Son. Amen