Last Saturday we gathered to celebrate the life of Gwynne Hagee and grieve her loss.

Here is what I said about this extraordinary person:

These past few weeks since Gwynne’s death, I have had the privilege of hearing and reading what many folks have had to share with me about what all Gwynne’s life meant to you.

It has been astonishing how many people have spoken about her as being “Christ-like.” More than one, more than two, more than three people have used those words – “Christ-like.” As well as other works like it: She “embodied the light and peace of Christ;” (these are direct quotes) she had a “Christ-like demeanor;” she was “an angel put on earth for us;” she was “a beautiful soul;” she “brings a presence of a greater dimension of God’s being;” she provided “a God-given presence.”

Also, more than one person has said to me “I know no one’s perfect, everyone has their faults, but with Gwynne, I can’t come up with any …”

You all have shared stories, testimonies to Gwynne’s unconditional compassion, her non-judgmental care for others, her respect for the essential sacred dignity of each and everyone, her humility and grace, her gentleness, her faithfulness, her “full and loving presence,” her “gentle, quiet power…” But also also many have shared with me their admiration for the strength and the courage of her convictions.

Gwynne wasn’t just nice. She had a toughness to not turn away from suffering. She bore a lot of pain and difficulty with others. And she was gifted with a clarity of conscience that drove her to take action and to assume leadership in the face of injustice and violence and hate.

She got fed up with the bigotry around her, the vicious and pernicious and pervasive hate in our society. And she got to work.

She showed up and she kept showing up.

Now, all of this doesn’t just come from nowhere. Gwynne was a woman of deep faith, a deep and living faith. The reality of God and the reality of the Realm of God was regularly in her heart’s awareness.

I want to be sure you all know that, and know that Gwynne Hagee was a person who knew the power of prayer. I got to witness this in many ways.

Gwynne was a powerful soul, who knew the power of prayer.

She knew the power of prayer to open her heart to God’s living presence – through prayer she regularly experienced the living presence of the Divine

She knew the power of prayer in praying for others and with others, to help others know the embrace of God’s universal love,

She knew the power of prayer to make oneself available to how Jesus can work on us and through us, shaping us to be a little more Christ-like.

Gwynne was a powerful soul who, knew and shared the fruits of her deep life of faith.

But for any human being in this world of ours, trying to live in imitation of Christ can often come at a cost. Gwynne was always putting other people’s needs ahead of her own.

I think her death came as a surprise to many because she didn’t let on just how fragile her health had become. She kept on being so strong for others and so dedicated and caring. I mean, just a couple of months ago, she was at a day long day of action with us in Harrisburg advocating for justice in public school funding. And she kept on showing up at our weekly racial justice vigils on the street corner, refusing to accept the offer of sitting in a chair, even as she became as thin as spun glass.

We can take comfort and reassurance in knowing that now for Gwynne Whatever pain of the cost of discipleship in this fallen world is now washed away for her. Her soul is now free and whole and at peace, abiding in God’s eternal glory. Well done, good and faithful servant.

And yet, Gwynne cared for so many people in so many ways that her sudden absence may feel like it leaves a tear in the fabric of community and family. I want to honor the heartbreak of that. I want to honor the rawness of the pain and grief, the feeling of being at loose ends.

Years ago, when Gwynne was grieving the loss of her beloved husband John, she came to the pastor of this church at the time, my predecessor, and said, “We need to start a grief group.” So, they did. That group became a godsend for lots of folks through the years supporting each other through the pain of loss. Gwynne responded to her own heartbreak by turning to others and creating community around that shared experience of loss.

I encourage you all to do the same in this time of grief, to do as Gwynne would do, to turn toward each other, with love, with care, to keep weaving those connections, as Gwynne did, that make the fabric of community and family strong and faithful and supportive.

I thank God that we all have the opportunity to carry on the legacy of Gwynne’s sweet and spirit. What a generous gift we all have received.

I thank God for the life of Gwynne Hagee.