A Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance

A SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING AND REMEMBRANCE FOR THE LIFE OF

RODERICK (“DEREK”) ALISTAIR JOHN LEITH

2:00 P.M. Friday, December 7, 2012 First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto A SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING AND REMEMBRANCE FOR THE LIFE OF

RODERICK (“DEREK”) ALISTAIR JOHN LEITH

Words of Reflection

The only gift is a portion of yourself.

~RalphWaldo Emerson

In the rising of the sun and in it’s going down, we remember them; In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, we remember them; In the warmth of the sun and the peace of the summer, we remember them; In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of the autumn, we remember them; In the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them; When we are weary and in need of strength; We remember them; When we are lost and sick at heart, we remember them; When we have joys to share, we remember them;

So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now part of us, as we remember them. ~Remembrance

Preludes Andrew Chislett

Entrance of the Family Piper, Fred Payne

Amazing Grace

Words of Welcome W. Robert Martin, III

The Call to Worship (Adapted from Mary Oliver’s Poem “The Spirit Likes to Dress Up”) Nan Swanson

One: The Spirit likes to dress up like this: ten fingers, ten toes, shoulders, and all the rest at night in the black branches, in the morning in the blue branches of the world. Many: It could float, of course, but would rather plumb rough matter. One: Airy and shapeless, the Spirit needs the metaphor of the body, lime and appetite, the oceanic fluids; Many: It needs the body's world, instinct and imagination and the dark hug of time—sweet and tangible. One: The Spirit needs to be understood, to be more than pure light that burns where no one is -- Many: So it enters us -- in the morning shines from brute comfort like a stitch of lightning; and at night lights up the deep and wondrous drownings of the body like a star.

*Hymn of Thanksgiving Blue Hymnal # 469

Morning Has Broken Special Readings

The Book of Ecclesiastes W. Robert Martin, III

To everything, and everyone, there is a season. And a time and place for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to harvest; A time of wounds, and a time to heal; A time to tear down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to embrace, and a time to be apart; A time to gain, and a time to lose; A time to cherish silence, and a time to boldly speak; A time to remember, and a time to release; A time to bring to mind, and a time to hold at heart.

The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 13: 1-13 Nan Swanson

If I speak in the language of both humans and of angels, but do not have love, I am nothing more than a noisy gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have prophetic insight and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have enough faith so as to move mountains about at will, but do not have love, I am nothing—even with these gifts. If I give away all of my possessions, and if I hand over my physical body so as to boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing at all.

For I have come to see that love is patient and love is kind—love is not envious, or boastful, arrogant or rude. It does not emphatically insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful—it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but instead rejoices when truth is told. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends . . .as for prophecies, they will come to a close—as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it too will run its course. For you see, when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I put an end not to child-like ways but to ways that were childish. For now we see ourselves in a mirror, dimly—but then we will boldly see face to face. Now we know only in part—but then, then we will know fully, even as we have been fully known.

So now, in this place and time, faith, hope, and love abide—these three! But the greatest of these is love! A Selection from Take This Bread by Sara Miles: Abby Mohaupt

This is my belief: That at the heart of Christianity is a power that continues to speak to and transform us. As I found to my surprise and alarm, it could speak even to me—not in the sappy, Jesus-and-cookies tone of mild-mannered liberal Christianity, or the blustering, blaming hellfire of the religious right. What I heard, and continue to hear, is a voice that can crack religious and political convictions wide open, that advocates for the least qualified, the least official, the least likely; that upsets the established order and makes a joke of certainty. It proclaims against reason that the hungry will be fed, that those cast down will be raised up, and that all things, including our own failures, are being made new! It offers food without exception to the worthy and unworthy, the screwed-up and the pious, and then commands everyone to do the same. It doesn’t promise to solve or erase suffering but to transform it, pledging that by loving one another, even through pain, we will find more life! And it insists that by opening ourselves in all of our relationships, we will see more and more of the holy, since, without exception, all people are one body—God’s!

Hymn of Response (Please remain seated) Black Hymnal # 451

Be Now My Vision

Words of Remembrance W. Robert Martin, III

Musical Reflection Andrew Chislett

The Prayer of Thanksgiving Abby Mohaupt

*The Closing Hymn Black Hymnal # 419 Now Thank We All Our God

*The Benediction W. Robert Martin, III

*The Exit of the Family Piper Fred Payne Banks of Loch Lomond

*Please rise in body or in spirit

Please join Derek’s family for a reception in the Fellowship Hall. Notes of Remembrance will be available.

The Leith family would also like to thank everyone for their love, support, and presence this day!