SERMON PREACHED BY
THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR
CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
AT THE BURIAL OFFICE FOR MARGARET McCANN GARLAND
FRIDAY 12 MAY 2006
"Let not your hearts be troubled."
(John 14:1)
The Psalmist tells us that a lifespan is reckoned as threescore
years and ten, and if we be especially fortunate, fourscore years
[Ps. 90:10]. We gather here today, on the eve of what would have
been the celebration of fourscore years for Margaret McCann Garland,
to give thanks to Almighty God for her life, her witness and
her example. We come to this place where Peggy worshipped, this
place where she dutifully served on the altar guild, this place
where she brought beauty, excitement and enthusiasm to her booths
at the bazaar, to commend her to the never-failing care of the
Bishop and Shepherd of our souls.
Peggy's life can be described in terms of relationships. I feel
a certain kindred spirit with Peggy because we both grew up as
only children at a time when that was considered a rare disease.
Its cure was to seek surrogate siblings. Peggy did this with
abandon, so much so that this past week several people told Peggy's
family that they felt they had lost their best friend. Peggy
believed, too, that it takes a village to raise a child. Family
neighbors growing up were not Mrs. This or Mr. That to Peggy's
children; they were Aunt Mary and Uncle Henry. Peggy must also
have read the Epistle to the Hebrews, which encourages us to
show hospitality to strangers, because thereby we may entertain
angels unawares. As her daughters can attest, no one was an alien
to Peggy's circle. Every friend or friend of a friend, every
waif and stray was welcome in the Garland house, and an extra
seat could always be found at Peggy's dining room table.
It is to Peggy's eternal credit that Gerry and Gayle did not
grow up wracked with envy --- because Peggy Garland's maternal
love was not limited to her biological children. It was shared
with the children she taught at St. Edmund's; it was dispensed
on little ones at a pre-school she founded at Harvard; that love
for children influenced all that she did as a board member at
Winchester Thurston, her beloved alma mater, and it seems altogether
fitting and proper that just a few days before her death, a playground
there was named in her honor.
Peggy was of the old school. She was resolute and strong-willed.
She instilled cherished values in her grandchildren, William
and Sarah, whom she adored, reminding them to give a strong handshake,
and always to look people in the eye. Never lacking courage,
even when lying in great pain, she could muster the strength
to say to those who inquired of her, "I'm doing so-so, but
I'll be better tomorrow." We can well imagine that the writer
of the Book of Proverbs might well have had Peggy in mind when
he wrote:
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue [Prov. 31:25-26].
That verse goes on to say, "Her children rise up and call
her blessed, her husband, too, and he praises her." Gray
Garland has lost his companion, his soul-mate, his dearest friend,
with whom he has spent the last fifty-eight years of his life.
Ever solicitous, respectful, encouraging, and yes, even at times
obedient, he never forgot his wedding vows, even the phrase "in
sickness and in health." In her final months, he never left
her side, always offering comfort, affection and compassion.
When I came to anoint Peggy shortly before her death, I said
to Gray, in a bungling effort to offer comfort something like
"You have had a long and rich life together." But Gray's
instinctive response was "Yes, but I would still like to
see Peggy recover." These were not the words of a man in
denial, but the words of a loving husband who never ceased being
desirous of the very best for his wife.
In today's Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples "Let not
your hearts be troubled." He could have said, "Don't
worry. Don't fret. Don't be preoccupied." He is telling
the disciples, and us, that we can only find real hope and confidence
by focusing on God rather than on ourselves. He is trying to
convince us that only by being grounded in God can we be able
to focus on God.
Sickness, disease and pain can easily make us focus on ourselves.
It is all too easy to rail at God, and ask "Why me?"
It is all too easy to feel sorry for ourselves and in the process
make miserable the lives of those around us. But there is an
alternative to this approach to suffering. It is summarized in
a prayer that says, "Sanctify, O Lord, the sickness of your
servant, that the sense of her weakness may add strength to her
faith and seriousness to her repentance."
It is this latter path that Peggy took. Her
suffering did not estrange her from God, but brought her closer
to God. But she would be the first to admit that she was not
able to do it alone. She was assisted by the faithful women who
ministered faithfully to her in her final months, weeks and days,
who offered her spiritual solace as well as physical comfort.
Her friends Anna, Terry, Connie, Linda and Meg were no less than
angels, for they were truly sent by God. It is they who enabled
Peggy to experience what the church calls a holy death. And because
she experienced a holy death, and because she has learned to
cast all her cares on Jesus, she is able to respond to her Lord's
invitation. Peggy knows that one of those dwelling-places is
for her. She knows that Jesus has prepared a place for her, and
will take her to himself.
Towards the end of her earthly life, Peggy's
body was frail and weak, and wracked with excruciating pain.
But today, having shared in the resurrection of her Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, who has opened for her the gates of everlasting
life, she has discarded that earthly shell and has exchanged
it for a new and glorious body. Now Peggy can sing:
O how glorious and resplendent,
Fragile body shalt thou be,
When endued with heav'nly beauty,
Full of health, and strong, and free,
Full of vigor, full of pleasure
That shall last eternally [Hymnal 1982, 621].
+Rest eternal grant unto Peggy, O Lord, and
let light perpetual shine upon her. May her soul and the souls
of all the faithful departed rest in peace and rise in glory.
AMEN.