Good morning. I feel very inadequate yet grateful to have this opportunity to speak today at my grandson, Jack’s funeral. This is a sacred meeting & an opportunity to feel the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost which brings us comfort & peace. I have felt the presence of beloved family members from beyond with us as we celebrate this amazing boy’s life & the lasting impact one so young has had upon so many people.
I appreciate so much this beautiful song that was played. Unfortunately, no one could sing it as it would have been impossible not to cry. So I would like to read you the words because they are true & powerful. It is called A Child’s Prayer.
Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
“Suffer the children to come to me.”
Father, in prayer I’m coming now to thee.
Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is list’ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav’n.
As I was getting ready this morning & looked out the window, my initial thought was that it should be raining buckets. It should be a very sad & gloomy day…for life without our sweet Jack-Jack will surely be dark. The temptation was to let grief overwhelm me. But the then memories flooded my mind…how Jack was so happy & excited to have his cousins & family help him celebrate his special 8th birthday; listening to him sing & dance to his favorite music & my personal favorite…his culinary masterpieces made out of clay as he watched his favorite cooking show.
I’m sure one of the reasons today will be absolutely glorious & beautiful is because a little angel named Jack is smiling his quirky little smile as he listens & watches the proceedings of his farewell, happy to have his family & loved ones gathered together. But what he’s really interested in is what delicious foods the ladies in the kitchen are preparing for the luncheon & learning that he can eat anything & as much as he wants.
Death will inevitable knock at the door of someone we love. It is natural & fitting that we should have sadness in our hearts and grieve deeply at the passing of one we love so much. However, this is also a time to contemplate the teachings & doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ that we may come to better appreciate & understand His atonement.
The world sees birth and death as the beginning and the end. But because of God’s holy plan, we know that birth and death are actually just milestones on our journey to eternal life with our Heavenly Father.
President Russell M Nelson said: “Life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death. Prior to our birth, we dwelled as spirit children with our Father in Heaven. There we eagerly anticipated the possibility of coming to earth and obtaining a physical body. Knowingly we wanted the risks of mortality, which would allow the exercise of agency and accountability. This life is a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God.” (Alma 12:24).
To you young children….Sidney, Kara, Lachlan…I know it’s hard to understand some gospel teachings. So I’m going to use a glove to explain something about life & death. Prior to coming to earth we lived with our Father in Heaven. We had spirit bodies that were perfect in every way. We had the opportunity & chance to make choices & one of the choices we got to make was whether or not we would follow our Savior.
We chose to come to earth and, like our Heavenly Father gave us a spirit body, our earthly mother & father provided us with mortal bodies…put glove over hand…Our spirit lives within us. It is our spirit that gives us life, makes it possible to think, to act & do so many amazing things.
But because our mortal bodies are imperfect & have all kinds of weaknesses, sickness, & sad things happen, like with Jack, our spirit leaves the body…glove off hand… & goes back to live with our Heavenly Father. Our body stays here on earth, but one day it will be resurrected & our spirit will be rejoined with our body…glove over hand… & we will be whole & perfect in every way…no more sickness or disabilities; no more hunger, sadness or pain.
Pres. Nelson knows full well what it means to lose a child, for his own adult daughter passed away a few months ago. He said, “There are no words to describe the grief that is felt by parents when their children pass away. There is just an unspeakable anguish that comes when we watch our children, whether they be a toddler, teenager, or an adult, leave this world before we do.”
Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love. The Savior said, “Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die….Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.
President Spencer W. Kimball teaches: “We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experience. We would have joys, and sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments. We accepted all these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and unfavorable. We eagerly accepted the chance to come to earth even though it might be for only a day or a year.”
I think little children recognize the spark of divinity within themselves & others because they have so recently come from a place inhabited by the greatest superheros of eternity. These beings have created worlds without number; they move through time & space in the blink of an eye & can read/speak to our minds without being present.
Is it any wonder children like Jack find it so easy to believe? They innately know they come from a world of light, truth & power. It is only natural that his mom would wear a Wonder Woman t-shirt & his dad wears one with the shield of Superman. I only wish I had my Mrs. Incredible outfit to wear today, but it’s already packed for our mission to Australia.
The Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).
The Savior, through His Infinite Atonement, has taken the sting out of death. Eventually each of us will pass from this life, but we will all live again because of the loving sacrifice of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
So, at times like this, where can we turn for peace? We can come unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He said; “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
A few weeks ago Jack was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by his dad. As you can see from his picture, he was so happy. His grandpa Shores shared these thoughts with me about that special day in Jack’s life.
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