We shouldn’t be here. This funeral should not be happening. Carolyn Guinn Scheideman should be here, not there. A young man should not be burying his wife, brothers, their sister, nieces and a nephew their Aunt, a mother her daughter.
This should not be happening and I along with all of you wish so much that this simply wasn’t.
I have no words to explain why this happened, how this happened or how Ben, Pat, Matthew and Jonathan and all of you who love Carrie should carry on.
I don’t.
But, BUT I do know one thing——Carrie is now—and forever will be— in the nearer presence of God. Carrie has all the answers now—-all of them—-her soul now resides where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but life everlasting. This day, at this moment, and forever, Carrie is free. Free from doubt, from worry, from pain, from darkness. Carrie is free. May that provide solace to all who mourn.
Now, I don’t know the status of Carrie’s theology at the time of her death nor would I presume to guess, but I do know, from my brief encounters with her and from the stories so many of you have shared, how she lived. And her life is instructive for us all.
Carrie lived as we have been told to live—- by loving.
She lived by laughing.
She lived by giving.
She lived by listening.
She lived by hearing, by noticing, by joining in.
If you needed a friend, Carrie was there.
If you were in a dark place, she would bring the light.
If you had given up on joy, on hope, on love….Carolyn would be there, ready to share a photo of Olive, Natalie, Charlie or Buster, ready to relay a story of her life with Ben, ending it with a wistful….”how’d I get so lucky….”
Carrie loved life, she lived life, she longed for life.
I remember when I was gathered with the family as Paul was near death. When Carrie entered the room, she brought light, love and laughter with her. Carrie loved as our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, implored us to love…she loved as he himself loved. To many of you Carrie was a good shepherd herself. Because she loved without exception. If you were lost, Carrie would search until you were found. Carrie got that there is no greater life lived than the one that is lived in love.
For when we live in Love, we live in God.
Carrie lived a Godly life and from that I hope all of you here gathered will gain strength and courage to face the days ahead. They will not be easy. You will miss her, you will wonder how it can be that you are here and she is not, you will find yourself, at times, lost at sea. But— and please remember this always— the Carrie who was game to try just about anything, the Carrie who’s laugh and smile would brighten any room and who’s sneeze could clear it, the Carrie who loved her music, her family, her friends, her dog and her work—-that Carrie lived well, that Carrie loved deeply and that Carrie, the wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend, that Carrie this day, dwells in the source of all light, and all laughter and all love: God.
This day, Carrie is clear, Carrie is free and Carrie is an eternal part of all the light and all the laughter and all the love there ever has been and ever will be.
Carolyn Guinn Scheideman until we meet again; rest in peace, rollick in laughter and love us from the other side.
Amen.
Ik wens u heel veel kracht toe.
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