Ann's Memorial Day

Early this morning, I made coffee, and drove up to Coyote Gulch.  Walking up in the half-light of dawn, I sat in my “interview” chair (a cheesy lawn chair that I have squirreled away underneath a juniper), and prayed a little, and wept a little.  I saw no burning bush, and no one spoke my name. I would like to believe that Ann is still with me, but I cannot tell, and I probably wouldn’t trust such feelings even if they occurred.  The curse of being a skeptical person.
I’ve decided to just go where the Spirit moves me, rather than be contrived and structured in how I meditate in the wilderness.  So, getting restless, I walked across the little valley and ascended the sandstone cliffs by a route I haven’t traveled in months (or years).  As I topped out, the sun was starting to shine through eastern clouds.  I saw the morning light hit the orange and tan cliffs of the Chinle Formation, and I heard pinyon jays laughing in the rocks.  And the sun came up. Down there in Vernal and beyond the horizon are the people I know and love, and we remain.
This is Ann’s memorial day, yet there are many people who won’t be able to attend.  So I am adding below the comments that I have asked my dear friend (whom I’ve never met) Joan Anselmo to read on my behalf at the service. After that, I’ve posted the last song to be sung, both at Mar Lu Ridge and at St. James Catholic Church.  It was the song that the Mar Lu Ridge staff and campers would always end their services with, and nothing could better express the way Ann was.

Dear Friends;

Ann Schaffer Elder was the most widely and deeply beloved person I have ever met. 
Ann worshipped the Lord of Love, the God who laid down his life for His creatures. She worked hard at imitating Christ, at being a little Christ, a Christian.  She demonstrated this kind of self-sacrificing love to her family and her many friends.  After grieving for her, she would want all of us to go out into the world and attempt to live likewise, and to make a difference to the people (and animals!) we meet.

It is difficult not to question God, and ask Him why she was not granted more life to bless the people who love her.  It is the most difficult trial for people of faith, and I won’t paper over the difficulty.  I will only say that like her, I choose to continue to believe in the God of Love, the One worthy of our worship. 

May this God of Love bless Ann’s family and all of her friends gathered here and at Mar-Lu-Ridge, and those who could not come but are here with us in spirit. And may He bless and keep the wife, daughter, sister and friend that we so deeply miss.

Song;  Pass It On, by Kurt Kaiser

It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That's how it is with God's Love,
Once you've experienced it,
You spread the love to everyone
You want to pass it on.

What a wonderous time is spring,
When all the trees are budding
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming;
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it.
You want to sing, it's fresh like spring,
You want to pass it on.

I wish for you my friend
This happiness that I've found;
You can depend on God
It matters not where you're bound,
I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD!
I want the world to know
The Lord of love has come to me
I want to pass it on.

I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD!
I want the world to know
The Lord of love has come to me
I want to pass it on.