Readings
Poems and reflections from the memorial service for Christine Loraine (Edson) Baker that was held on June 30, 2018 at Birmingham Unitarian Church (BUC), as selected and read by Rev. Daniel Budd
Supremely beautiful upon the rolling earth
Arose the fragile palace of a human life,
Made of memories inwrought with memories,
Rising as on a summer day, a summer cloud.
A little while it made our world more fair,
Tomorrow will find it not;
Even today it is not.
Blessed are beautiful memories,
And blessed are they that remember the beautiful.
Even though they mourn,
Blessed are they that remember.
– Author Unknown
They are not gone who pass
Beyond the clasp of hand,
Out from the strong embrace.
They are but come so close
We need not grope with hands,
Nor look to see, nor try
To catch the sound of feet.
They have put off their shoes
Softly to walk by day
Within our thoughts, to tread
At night our dream-led paths
Of sleep….
They are not dead who live
In hearts they leave behind.
In those whom they have blessed
They live a life again,
And shall live through the years
Eternal life, and grow
Each day more beautiful
As time declares their good,
Forgets the rest, and proves
Their immortality.
– Hugh Robert Orr
When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And [those] that wait to die.
And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.
I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.
Look for me
In the people
I’ve known
Or loved.
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on in your eyes
And not in your mind.
You can love me most
By letting hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.
Love doesn’t die.
People do.
So when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.
– Merrit Malloy
Remember me when I am gone away,
gone far away into the silent land;
when you can no longer hold me by the hand,
nor I half turn to go and yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
you tell me of our future that you planned;
only remember me, you understand,
it will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
and afterwards remember,
do not grieve: for if the darkness and
corruption leave
a vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
better by far that you should forget and smile
than that you should remember and be sad.
– Christina Rosetti
To live in this world (writes Mary Oliver)
you must be able to do three things:
To love what is mortal;
To hold it against your bones
knowing you own life depends on it;
And, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
I have got my leave, bid me farewell ….. !
I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here, I give back the keys to my door – and give up all
claims to my house.
I only ask for kind words from you.
Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.
At this time of my parting, wish me good luck, my friends!
The sky is flushed with the dawn and my path lies beautiful.
Ask not what I have with me to take there.
I start on my journey with empty hands and an expectant heart.
. . . .
Peace, my heart, let the time of parting be sweet,
(Let it not be a death, but completeness.)
Let love melt into memory, and pain into song,
Let the flight through the sky
End in the folding of the wings over the nest,
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle,
Like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment.
And say your last words in silence.
– Rabindranath Tagore
And now, may the Peace which passes all understanding,
the Love that casts out fear,
and the Hope which never dies,
Lead us forward until the day-spring breaks
and the shadows flee away.
Amen.
Christine Loraine (Edson) Baker 
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