Readings

Think of me as one at rest, for me you should not weep.

I have no pain no troubled thoughts for I am just asleep.

The living thinking me that was, is now forever still

And life goes on without me now, as time forever will.

If your heart is heavy now because I’ve gone away.

Dwell not long upon it friend for none of us can stay.

Those of you who liked me, I sincerely thank you all

And those of you who loved me, I thank you most of all.

And in my fleeting lifespan, as time went rushing by

I found some time to hesitate, to laugh, to love, to cry.

Matters it now if time began. If time will ever cease?

I was here, I used it all, and now I am at peace.

Feel no guilt in laughter,

I know how much you care,

Feel no sorrow in a smile,

That I’m not here to share.

You cannot grieve forever,

I would not want you to.

I hope you could carry on,

The way you always do.

So talk about the good times,

The way you showed you care,

The days we spent together,

The happiness we all shared.

Let memories surround you,

A word someone might say,

Will suddenly recapture,

A time, An hour, A day.

That brings me back dearly

As though I were still here,

And fills you with the feelings,

That I am always near.

For if you keep those moments,

We will never be apart,

And I will live forever,

Locked safe within your heart.

Death is nothing at all

I have only slipped away into the next room

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other 

That we are still.

Call me by my old familiar name

Speak to me in the easy way you always used

Put no difference into your tone

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed 

At the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was

Let it be spoken without effort

Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant

It is the same as it ever was

There is unbroken continuity

What is death but a negligible accident?

Why should I be out of mind 

Because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you for an interval

Somewhere very near

Just around the corner.

All is well.

                                                                   Henry Scott Holland

God saw you were getting tired, 

And a cure was not to be,

So he put his arms around you, 

And whispered, "Come to Me".

With tearful eyes we watched you, 

And saw you pass away.

Although we loved you dearly, 

We could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating, 

Hard working hands at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us, 

He only takes the best. 

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one,

I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.

I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,

Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.

I’d like the tears of those who grieve,

To dry before the sun of happy memories that I leave,

When life is done. 

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me,

I want no rite in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not for long

And not with your head bowed low,

Remember the love that once we shared,

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take

And each must go alone,

It’s all part of the master plan

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart

go to the friends we know.

Laugh at all the things we used to do

Miss me, but let me go.