The Funeral Eucharist for LaRoy Baird

 

St. George’s Episcopal Church, Bismarck, ND

Saturday  Aug 17, 2024

 + It is a true honor for me to officiate at this service today.

 I am very grateful that John asked me to come to Bismarck to lead this service in which the life of LaRoy is celebrated .

 And I have to say this was a life that needs to be celebrated.  

 As I read that incredible obituary, I was impressed.

 LaRoy led an amazing life!

 He seemed like some kind of renaissance man!

 Studying zoologoy.

 Becoming a forensic chemist

 Then law school.

 A distinguished legal career

 Helping those who truly needed help.

 A devoted Democrat!

 How many people would have dreamed to have lived a life like his!

 It was truly a blessed life!

 There is no doubt that he was someone who made a major impact in so many people’s lives.

 To hear all these stories and to hear the wonderful things people have to say is a big sign that a person made an major impact in people’s lives.

 And LaRoy did that.

 This was a man who made a difference in this world and in the lives of his family, whom he loved deeply, and for all the people who knew him.

 And in countless people’s lives that we will never know about.

 And it is this that we celebrate and remember today.

 It is important to remember that success is not just something that just happens.

 One works hard to succeed.

 One sacrifices and struggles.

 Few people know how much sleep a truly successful person loses in their lifetime.

 It is important to remember that, to hold that close and to celebrate those sacrifices LaRoy made in his life.

 And the fact that he did so not only for himself, but for his family, for those whom he loved the most.

  And because he did, this world is a bit more empty today without LaRoy in it.

 The lives of everyone who knew him and experienced that love and generosity and caring is emptier because LaRoy is not there to share that.

 But, it is vital to remember that all this reminds us that our goodbye today is only a temporary goodbye.

 All that you knew and loved about LaRoy is not gone for good.

 It is not ashes.

 Is not grief.

 It is not loss.

 Everything that LaRoy was to those who knew him and loved him and now miss him is not lost forever.

 All you loved, all that was good and gracious and amazing in LaRoy—all that was fierce and strong and amazing in him—all of that lives on.

 It lives on with all of you who experienced the kindness and generosity and love of LaRoy in this life.

 And for those of us who have faith, faith in more than this world, we know that it goes on too.

 I don’t claim to know how.

 I don’t claim to know for certain what exactly awaits us in the next world.

 I do believe that all that is good and gracious and loving in LaRoy now dwells in a place of light and beauty and life unending.

 I believe it will be very much like the vision we see shown to us in our reading today from the prophet Isaiah.

And I do believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will see him again.

 A place of rich food and well-aged wines.

 A place in which every tear will truly be wiped away for good.

 A place in which there will be no more tears.

 And it will be beautiful.

 Of course that doesn’t make any of this any easier for those who knew him and cared for him.

 Whenever anyone we love dies, we are going to feel pain.

 That’s just a part of life.

 That is the price we pay for love.

 We all know that love is not free.

 It comes at a very costly price.

 We all run the run the risk when we love that one day that those we love may not be with us for all of our lives.

 And the more pain we feel, we know the greater the love we had.

 And that’s all right.

 There is nothing wrong to know that accept that.

 Because the really important thing to realize, in the end, is that it was worth it.

 Every single bit of it was worth the price.

 So, yes, there are tears today.

 Yes, there is a feeling of separation and loss.

 But like the hardship in this life, our feelings of loss are only temporary as well.

 They too will pass away.

 Realizing that and remembering that fact is what gets us through some of the hard moments of this life.

 This is where we find our strength—in our faith that promises us an end to our sorrows, to our loss.

It is a faith that can tell us with a startling reality that every tear we shed—and we all shed our share of tears in this life—every tear will one day be dried and every heartache will ultimately disappear.

And I can also tell you that he will not be quickly forgotten.

LaRoy Baird is not someone who will be easily forgotten.

He is not someone who passes quietly into the mists

His fierce determination lives on in us.

His strength, his dignity, his love lives on in his family and his friends and in all those who knew him.

His strength and his compassion, his sense of justice and dignity lives in those he helped and encouraged and led and was an example to. 

So this morning and in the days to come, let us remember LaRoy with joy in our hearts.

Let us hold him close in our memories and celebrate his life with a sense of gratitude for all he was.

Let us truly be thankful for LaRoy.

And let us be glad that one day we too will be sharing with him in that joy he now lives in, and joining him in that place of  light and beauty and unending happiness, where there are no more tears and no sadness, but life unending.    

Into paradise may the angels lead you, LaRoy.

Amen.