Lake Lawn Funeral Home, New Orleans, LA.
(please stand in a circle around the urn with an opening towards the altar)
To lay me down, once more, to lay me down
With my head in sparklin' clover
Let the world go by, like clouds a streaming
To lay me down, one last time, to lay me down
To lay me down, oh o oh, to lay me down,
To lay me down, one last time, to lay me down
To lie with you, once more, to lie with you.
With our bodies close together
Let the world go by, all lost in dreamin
To lay me down, one last time, to lay me down
To lay me down, oh o oh, to lay me down,
To lay me down, one last time, to lay me down
To be with you, once more, to be with you
With our dreams entwined together
To wake beside you, my love still sleepin'
To tell sweet lies, one last time, and say good night
To lay me down, oh o oh, to lay me down,
To lay me down, one last time, to lay me down
To lay me down, one last time
To lay me down, one last time
By Rev. VanderWeele
Life as a whole never takes death seriously. It laughs, dances and plays, it builds, hoards and loves in death’s face. Only when we detach one individual fact of death do we see its blankness and become dismayed. We lose sight of the wholeness of a life of which death is a part. It is like looking at a piece of cloth through a microscope. It appears like a net; we gaze at the big holes and shiver in imagination. But the truth is, death is not the ultimate reality. It looks black, as the sky looks blue; but it does not blacken existence, just as the sky does not leave its stain upon the wings of the bird. --Rabindanath Tagore
By the power and the truth of this practice,
May all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness.
May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow.
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness, which is sorrowless.
And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.
May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere, the strong and the weak, the great and the small,
The mean and the powerful, the short and the long, the subtle and the gross:
May all beings everywhere, seen and unseen, dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become: May all be filled with lasting joy.
Let no one deceive another, Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment wish suffering on anyone at all.
Let limitless love, without hatred or enmity flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent.
Just as a mother with her own life protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within me let grow a boundless love for all creatures.
As you stand or walk, sit or lie down, as long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
Read the book aloud around the circle
Please be seated during the song.
Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely life time
If you want me to I will
For if I ever saw you
I didn't catch your name
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same
Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart
And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me
And you know I will
I will
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
By Bagus
(with invitation to others)
Stepping Stones in Life
Performed by Bagus and Tom Haig
All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew on,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.
If you hear that same sweet song again, will you know why?
Anyone who sings a tune so sweet is passin' by,
Laugh in the sunshine, sing, cry in the dark, fly through the night.
Don't cry now, don't you cry, don't you cry anymore.
Sleep in the stars, don't you cry, dry your eyes on the wind.
All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew off,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.
By Rev. VanderWeele
By Rev. VanderWeele