Faithfulness isn’t just about how we live our lives today: it’s also about how we prepare (and prepare our loved ones) for when this life comes to an end, and we enter the fullness of life in God. Seen this way, some of the most profound acts of faith and wholeheartedness happen when we do the work of end-of-life planning, from preparing our funeral service to creating a will to preparing directives for our health care when we are no longer able to make decisions for ourselves.
Our most authentic witness comes through our life story, and through the way that we prepare for the end of our lives. When we prepare wills and plan funeral liturgies, we aren’t simply providing for our loved ones, and we aren’t simply easing their stress in the days after our death: we are bearing witness to what we believe, we are sharing our faith, we are passing along a gift of hope.
That planning comes in many forms. We plan our funerals by sitting with a member of the clergy, praying together and considering what makes our heart sing. We ease the pain of uncertainty by preparing advanced health care directives. We provide for our loved ones, and for the sustainable future of the churches and institutions that reflect our faith and our values, by preparing wills and trusts. All of these awaken us to the eternal presence of God, even as we consider our mortality.
This Sunday I hope you’ll join me for a Dean’s Forum on end-of-life planning, considering everything from funerals to wills to trusts to advanced directives. Trinity is blessed with members with great expertise—The Rev. Eric Funston, Ute Vilfroy, Marie Curry, and Amy Ryder-Wentz—who will offer practical insight and information so that you can begin this journey of preparation, wherever you are in life today.
Faithfully,
