Dale Sylvester Funeral
June 17, 2005
Sympathy to family & friends
To those who did not know him Dale’s sense of humor was very subtle. You needed to know him to understand his humor. His wisecracks were frequently hidden under a gruff exterior or his straight-faced façade. His sense of humor manifested itself in most unexpected ways and in most unexpected circumstances. The casual observer might never realize what a treasure Dale’s sense of humor was.
That is they way it is with the blessing of God’s love as well. The casual observer may never realize what a treasure it is because it frequently comes to us in most unexpected ways and unexpected circumstances. God’s ways always seem to turn human ways upside down. To see God’s love we must look not with human eyes, but with eyes of faith.
Human eyes see death as an affliction; as an end to our life. When we look with eyes of faith, however, we understand our first reading that reminds us, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.”
Dale had a great deal of physical suffering in his life. Human eyes see suffering as a curse to be avoided at all costs. Eyes of faith invite us not to be discouraged but to see human suffering in the light of our second reading where St. Paul says, “Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison… and we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God…not made with human hands…”
Human eyes consider people blessed when they don’t experience tragedy like the death of someone they love. When we look with eyes of faith we hear Jesus saying, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be consoled.”
Elaine, Dale was your partner in marriage for forty-two years. I can’t imagine the pain and grief you feel. All who loved Dale are very sad and he will be missed very much. It is my prayer, however, that we can find hope and consolation in our faith. It is our faith that allows us to believe that Dale is no longer suffering, but he is at peace. Our faith allows us to look beyond this world and believe that even though Dale’s illnesses looked like his outer self was wasting away; his afflictions were producing for him an eternal weight of glory beyond anything we can imagine. With eyes of faith we dare to imagine the impeccably landscaped home that God has prepared for Dale.
Even though our grief and sadness remains, I pray that we can see beyond the present moment with eyes of faith and find hope and consolation in our belief that, for followers of Jesus, the end of life in this world is the beginning of a new and eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven with our God who loves us more than we can imagine.
I pray also that as we look with eyes of faith we will see that just as God reaches out in love to Dale at the time of his death, God reaches out in love to all of us in our grief. Jesus promises that those who mourn will be blessed because they will be consoled. Elaine and her family are mourning a deep loss. God calls us as people of faith to reach out and bring his love and consolation to them. Will we respond? St. Paul reminds us that not only did Dale’s afflictions produce an eternal weight of glory, but our present affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory as well. Just as God prepares for Dale a building not made with human hands, God prepares such a building for us as well.
The bottom line is this: it is our faith in Jesus that gives us hope and consolation. It is our faith in Jesus that allows us to see God reaching out to us with love and consolation as we mourn our loss. It is our faith that allows us to imagine just how glorious this eternal home in heaven might be that God’s hands have built for Dale and all of us who follow Jesus Christ in faith.