Prayer - Dedication

On Thursday I dedicated a bench at the Chigwell Row Guide Camp in memory of a former parishioner, Jean Cook.

We reflected that Jean was someone who was full of life and who filled her life with many interests and commitments including guiding, folk dancing, teaching, Townswomen's and Trefoil Guilds, and swimming. Her favourite hymn was ‘O Jesus I have promised to serve thee to the end’ and she found encouragement to do so in Jesus' words from Matthew 11. 28: “Come unto me all who are heavily laden and I will refresh you.” One of the main ways in which she was refreshed was through her friends. Found among her things after her death was a poem that we heard read at her funeral which says that we are all made up of the friends we have and that our lives are richer for the different ways in which others have touched and shaped our lives. That was Jean’s experience because of each of her many friends and it was also our experience because of the effect that Jean had on us. And so we prayed ...

God our Father, in loving care your hand has created us, and as the potter fashions the clay you have formed us in your image. Through the Holy Spirit you have breathed into us the gift of life. In the sharing of love you have enriched our knowledge of you and of one another. We claim your love today, as we remember Jean in this place where we dedicate this bench to her memory in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God our Father, we thank you that you have made each of us in your own image, and given us gifts and talents with which to serve you. We thank you for all those whom we love but see no longer, and thank you especially for Jean, the years we shared with her, the good we saw in her, the love we received from her.
Now surround us, Jean’s friends, with your love, that we may have confidence in your goodness, strength to meet the days to come, and a firm hope in your eternal love and purposes for us, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Megurine Luka - O Jesus I Have Promised.