A Parable of Immortality - Poem

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs
like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "

Gone where?

Gone from my sight . . . that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment
when someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .

" Here she comes! "

~Henry Van Dyke

Dying

"Remember Me" Music Brings My Heart, Edwards

"Take My Hand" Music Brings My Heart, Edwards

"Teach Me to Die" Music Brings My Heart, Edwards

"You're Going Home" Music Brings My Heart, Edwards
"See you in the Morning" Music by Susan Ames

Death of a Child

"The Littlest Angel" Music Brings My Heart, Edwards

"Playclothes" Music, Tears, Laughter, Edwards

Funeral Ideas - Spouse

"Let Me Cry For Awhile" He Too Has Walked This Way - Wyson

Funeral Ideas

"A Call I Hear" Forward w/Fe EFY 2000
**"Homeward Bound"
"Calling all Angels" by Jessie Clark Funk
"Together Forever" by Michael McLean
"Small Enough" by Mindy Gledhill
"You Raised Me Up" by Josh Groban
"God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again"
"No We Are Free" by Gladiator
"To Where You Are" by Josh Groban
"No Limits" by Alex Boye
"All That I Can Say" by David Crowder Band
"He Gave His Life for Me" Charity Never Faileth, Embryo Music
"He's My Son" by Mark Shultz
"What is This Thing That Men Call Death?" Hinckey/Perry/Wood
"A Mother's Silent Prayer" by Sally Deford
"A Heritage of Hope and a Legacy of Love" by Sally Deford
"Together Forever Someday" by Michael McLean
"Where is Heaven?" by Janice Kapp Perry
"I Am the Resurrection and the Life" by Jeff Goodrich
"Well Done Thou Good and Faithful Servant" funeral words
**"When All is Said and Done" Best of EFY
"Lord Remember Me" in Top 50 (for wayward)
"One Heart in the Right Place" McLean in Top 50
"Pass the Love On" Marsden in Top 50
"She Believes" Staci Peters in Top 50
"You Gave Me More" Afterglow - A Feeling Within
"When First the Glorious Light of Truth" Fav. Hymns of Prophets
"Going Home" Seminary's Greatest

Funeral Hymns

"Abide With Me" #166 (Tim Johnson Arrangement)
"Be Still My Soul" #124
"Each Life That Touches Ours For Good"#293
"God Be With You Til We Meet Again" Elder S Arrangement w/minors
"Guide Me to Thee" #101
**"How Great Thou Art"
"I Believe in Christ"
**"I Know That My Redeemer Lives" #135 (Allyson's Arrangement)
"I Need Thee Every Hour" #93, 334 (Prophet Favs Arrangement)
"I Stand All Amazed" # (Beebe Holiday Arrangement)
"Nearer My God to Thee" #100
"Oh My Father" #292
"The Lord is My Shepherd" #108, 316
"Though Deepening Trials" #122
"Where Can I Turn for Peace"

"Prepare to Meet the Lord" by Peay in Top 50

Together Forever Someday

Words and music by Michael McLean

Well, it's hard to say goodbye and let go,
And it's hard to see it end,
When the mem'ries we've just made
May never happen again.
But it's harder for time to ever erase
The together we've shared.
So, when we're apart remember
All the love we've shared together;
And for all that love, thank the Lord above
Who showed us the way
That we can be together forever someday,
We can be together forever someday.
We will be together forever someday.
REPEAT

When All is Said and Done

by Tyler Castleton and Stacy Peters
Deseret Book's The Best of EFY

When all is said and done as the season slips away
When I've taken steps beyond my sight
Will I find my strength in greater light
Will my courage grow with ev'ry passing day
And will my faith be constant as the setting sun
When all is said and done When all is said and done
And the years have turned to gold
Will my life become a legacy
Of the things that matter most to me
Will the fire of faith burn bright as I grow old.
And will I want to be the person I've become
When all is said and done.

When all is said and done When my eyes can finally see
Will I glory in the sweet release
And will mercy fill my soul with peace
Will I kneel in wonder at the Savior's feet
Will I hear Him say "Well Done"
When He sees who I've become
Will I live with Him
When all is said and done.

Going Home

Words and music by Kenneth Cope

Kindly fires burning there warm my soul
Yearning for the ones calling me there
It's stronger than words can tell
And once in home's sweetness
I taste the love of heav'n.

Heavenly home
Holy faces wait for me and cheer me on
I will do all that it takes to reach their arms
Where I belong. Going home.

Where is Heaven?

Words and Music by Janice Kapp Perry

I wish I could remember the days before my birth,
and if I knew the Father before I came to earth.
In quiet moments, when I'm all alone
I close my eyes and try to see my Heav'nly home.

Where is heaven? Is it very far?
I would like to know if it's beyond the brightest star.
Where is Heaven?
Will you show the way?
I would like to learn and grow and go there someday.

I wish I could remember the Father's loving face
And all the friends and fam'ly that filled that holy place.
Was I a child there? Did I walk with God?
And was that where I learned about the Iron Rod?

Where is heaven? Is it very far?
I would like to know if it's beyond the brightest star.
I've a feeling that it's not so far.
When you're with the ones you love it's right where you are.
When you're with the ones you love it's right where you are.

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death? Sheet Music

Words by Gordon B. Hinckley, Music by Janice Kapp Perry

What is this thing that men call death,
This quiet passing in the night?
'Tis not the end but genesis.
Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change,
With recompense for vict'ry won.
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.

Songs for Stillborns

"Smallest & Wingless" by Craig Cardiff
"Precious Child" by Karen Taylor-Good
"Littlest Angel in Heaven" by Deanna Edwards

LDS Burial and Funeral Planning Information

From http://www.mormonshare.com/relief-society/lds-burial-help.php

This has been a difficult topic to research, but since there is so little information about this online, and since funerals are often planned in just a few days, I thought it might be helpful to post some information to those who are looking for information about how to prepare the body of a deceased LDS church member for burial.

Procedures During LDS Funerals

An LDS or Mormon funeral should follow the pattern of a sacrament meeting: an opening song, followed by an opening prayer, welcome by presiding priesthood, talks, closing song, ending with a closing prayer. When a funeral is conducted by the Bishop or Branch President, he should invite inviduals to speak and direct the program.

Music played in the chapel should be approved by the Bishop or Branch president and should be hymns or similar appropriate music.

From Policies and Programs July 1979 Ensign:

"Pertaining to the conduct of funerals, we bring the following to your attention:

"A custom has developed which often eliminates music from both the beginning and the end of these services, placing it only near the middle of the program. It is requested that henceforth all funerals conducted under the auspices of officials of the Church follow the general format of the sacrament meeting with respect to music, speaking, and prayers. Music should be used at the beginning of the service prior to the opening prayer and possibly after the invocation also, as in our Sunday meetings. The closing portion of the funeral likewise should follow our customary pattern of having a final musical number immediately before the concluding prayer. Where feasible a choir could very well be used on the musical program.

"With respect to speaking, it should be kept in mind that funeral services provide an excellent opportunity for teaching the basic doctrines of the Church in a positive manner.

"It is not necessary for the bishop to lead the procession down the aisle of the chapel as the casket is brought into the building.

"Following these suggestions will help to keep our services in line with our established pattern and will avoid practices now so commonly followed elsewhere." -PB

Here is a November 1988 Ensign article by Elder Packer titled "Funerals: A Time for Reverence" that may help with planning an LDS funeral. Here are some of the main points:

• "One of the most solemn and sacred meetings of the Church is the funeral for a departed member. It is a time of caring and support when families gather in a spirit of tender regard for one another. It is a time to soberly contemplate doctrines of the gospel and the purposes for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ."
• "A comforting, spiritual funeral is of great importance. It helps console the bereaved and establishes a transition from mourning to the reality that we must move forward with life."
• "Funerals held under the direction of the priesthood are Church meetings... Bishops always show tender regard for the family of the deceased, and insofar as their requests accord with established policy, they may willingly be met.... We should regard the bishop rather than the family or the mortician as the presiding authority in these matters.... When innovations are suggested by family members, morticians, or others, which are quite out of harmony with that agenda, the bishop should quietly persuade them to follow the established pattern. It is not a rigid pattern and allows sufficient flexibility to have each funeral personally appropriate for the deceased."
• "Family members ordinarily give the family prayer and dedicate the grave."
• "If family members do speak, and I repeat, it is not a requirement, they are under the same obligation to speak with reverence and to teach the principles of the gospel."
• "Viewings are not mandatory."
• It is not required for family and friends to file by an open casket after a funeral.
• Graveside services may be held instead of a funeral. When a funeral service is planned, elaborate graveside services -- with songs, etc. -- should be avoided. (inferred from the text by me.)
• "We are close, very close, to the spirit world at the time of death. There are tender feelings, spiritual communications really, which may easily be lost if there is not a spirit of reverence."

Family Prayer

Family members of a deceased LDS person are often invited to attend a special prayer service before the funeral. The prayer is usually given by a family member. After the prayer, family members may pay their last respects, final adjustments are made to the body or clothing, and the coffin is closed. (Caskets are not usually left open during LDS funeral services.)

During family prayers, a feeling of reverence should prevail. Visiting and renewal of friendships should be done outside, so as not to disturb those grieving.