0618 – RICHLAND (WA) CONGREGATION : Schlotman, Paul Sr. – Funeral Eulogy (2010)
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Paul Schlotman Sr. |
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description of work: A funeral eulogy for Paul Schlotman Sr., of the Richland WA Community of Christ, delivered by Elder Joe Stephan. tags: Paul Schlotman Sr., funeral, eulogy, eternal life, Teresa Trevino Schlotman, Joe Stephan, Joachim Stephan, Community of Christ, Richland Washington |
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It is our privilege to share with you in the celebration of the life of Paul Schlotman Sr. – devoted son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and caring friend. We have already shared a brief summary of his life as prepared by his family and you already know that any summary could not possibly encompass the life lived by this man. |
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I also know that whatever I am going to say to you, dear family, is not going to take away the pain that you are feeling and will feel for some time to come. It will not always be that way. The time will come when you will be able to continue your life enriched by the conviction that your life with your loved one, even his suffering and pain, has great value for your eternal life. There is meaning in suffering in this life and in eternity even though we naturally try to avoid it as much as possible. And in time, you will not only believe but know that Paul lives. That he – in spirit – never died but lives among those loved ones already departed. Most importantly, he lives in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. |
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The departure of a loved one is so final, so irreversible, so unacceptable. |
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During the days and nights, weeks, and months you will live your life dramatically changed. Everywhere you will look around your home, your yard, his workplace, in church, you will be reminded of his touch, his voice, his appearance. Memories will keep flooding back; memories of a Paul that was brought into this life by his mother and raised by his father and mother; memories of life on the family’s farm; memories of brothers and a sister who learned to be responsible, who learned to work hard and determined; memories of a son who wore the uniform of this country with respect and pride. |
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You his birth family, father and mother and brother and sister, remember the child and youth who lived among you. You remember that he was taught about Jesus early in his life. And then you, Teresa, have memories of a young man who entered life and heart. You, Teresa, are a woman who herself knows what hardship and hard work are; Teresa Trevino who willingly joined Paul. They began their life’s journey together. Together they brought forth new life into this life; together they built their home; together they shared joys and pain; together they displayed a vibrancy and energy that seemed boundless to us. |
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And then, for many months, Teresa and her children endured the anguish of seeing husband and father slip away from her but never, never giving up hope. |
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The reason why Teresa never gave up hope was not only because she loved her man, but because Paul and Teresa, in their marriage, had taken in a third partner in their marriage bond – their Father in heaven. They knew that this being who we call God, our Heavenly Father, had sent his own son to this world many generations ago to tell us of His love for us. And when we rejected him, to demonstrate how much he loved us. He even allowed our race to crucify him (John 3:16). |
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I learned of their devotion to family, work, community, country and God mostly through my association in church. We are a small church family where everyone knows each other. And it is in this association that we saw Paul and Teresa, accompanied by their children, give their all. The time came when God called them to be ministers in the church and they could not do enough to please the Lord. Paul’s and Teresa’s voices rang clear “in the hall” as Paul referred to it often – in preaching, in testimony and in prayer. |
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They not only witnessed to their love for the Lord, but they witnessed of their concern for us by being involved in virtually every task or mission our small church set out to do. |
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Many times it was they who initiated an activity that benefitted the church or the community. They were the spirit of our vacation bible school bringing lessons of Jesus. They did that so effectively and enthusiastically, through vivid acting out the gospel lessons, that the kids will remember them all their lives. Even when Paul was ill during last summer’s vacation bible school, he sat among our kids clothed in biblical garb while Teresa demonstrated and taught them the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. |
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There was not a holiday when they were not involved in some activity that benefitted the poor and disadvantaged. She led charitable efforts at her place of work, the Pacific NW Laboratory. She and Paul supported charitable work every Christian holiday to ensure that the underprivileged and the poor were fed and clothed. They constantly challenged us to do more. |
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Paul was truly a patriot based on sound American values. And thus it was no surprise that Teresa and Paul, together with our church leaders, invited Washington Operation Thank You into our church building where, periodically, volunteers pack hundreds of boxes for our troops in the field to let them know that they are not forgotten by their friends back home. Paul felt so enthusiastic about this special activity that he wanted to wear his navy uniform for a packing last summer, but his failing health did not allow that. |
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Among their family, we felt privileged when we could join in the celebrations of their children‘s graduations from school and universities, and the birth of a new life. It was obvious at those celebrations that they had a lot of family and friends. |
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It was so unacceptable to us to see this energetic bond dissolved. We asked fervently for Paul to be healed. But at the end, all we could say to our Heavenly Father was “Thy will be done.” |
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I have spoken mostly of Paul’s family but what I have to say now involves us all. On a somber occasion such as this, it is a good time to review our attitude toward what happened to Paul. |
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Whenever one of our loved ones leaves our family circle, and passes on to their reward, there is a definite response by each of us. As logical as it may seem that we should be happy that a soul is returning to its heavenly home, there is always pain, hurt, and a sense of tragedy associated with such an event. We are stopped, at least momentarily, in our rush through life and reminded that we, too, are subject to being called from this life -–all of us – at any time. Depending on how close we are to our loved ones – and the degree of closeness makes a huge difference in how we feel – we feel disturbed, sad, and yes at least for a while, we become contemplative of our life. We turn inward and try to find answers that bring us comfort and assurance. |
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Each one of us adopts a different solution to the sense of insecurity and mortality that befalls us in such moments. |
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Some just bury the pain in activity and welcome distractions. |
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I said earlier that we are here to celebrate the life of our loved one, but to be honest, we would be hard pressed to rejoice over the passing of anyone’s life. And yet we must. |
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Regardless of our outlook in life and regardless of our beliefs, the church home we go to on Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning, all of us need to find our own way to cope with the end of life without loosing sight of the mission we have here on earth. We seek comfort in the reading of sacred and inspired writings. We seek comfort in communicating with the unseen. We seek reassurance in each other. We seek understanding in prayer. |
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I don’t know most of you and how you have found your way to cope with life and suffering and death. I don’t know with what conviction and with what strength you know why you are here on this earth or if you really know that your Heavenly Father loves you and loves you beyond belief. |
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I spent most of my life with feelings of uncertainty even though I have been a minister of the gospel since 1958 and a steady church goer and supporter. I preached my first memorial service for a young friend, a bride-to-be, who was buried in her wedding dress days before she was to be married. I listened to, and gave, many sermons but without really understanding about this love that our Heavenly Father has for us. |
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And then, the companion of my youth for 33 years, was suddenly called home. And I was left with the choice to either grieve inconsolably or to turn to God to help me understand. For the first time in my life, I decided to trust him. To do otherwise seemed futile to me. As a result, he did teach me to understand how much he really loved me. I had read the scriptures many times but when I read them from then on I understood. Now I understand even more fully. |
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On the day of his last supper Jesus begged his disciples not to be troubled but to trust him. |
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“In my Father’s house are many mansions (notice “mansions”). If it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3). |
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So, through a painful experience, I finally lived long enough to learn a few things about life. Some of them come from books, some from stories or sermons I heard, some from the pain that I have experienced, some physical, some emotional. Some came from reading credible accounts of people who, temporarily, were propelled from this plane of existence into one that is so incredibly beautiful that they had a hard time returning to this life. |
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I know that there are at those among us who have had an experience that they find impossible to describe. There are those among us who know of the promise beyond this life. |
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Out of such learning there arises, in those who are willing to accept it as conviction, a truly great gift that needs to be shared. Some receive it early in life; some not until they age and perhaps not until just before their bodies begin to die. God loves us. He truly loves us. He sent us to this earth because he loves us. He joined us to circumstances, geographic locations and to other people who love us, because he loves us. |
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Paul now knows with absolute certainty that his Heavenly Father loves him. Like many of us, however, while still among us he must have had concern about how God was going to judge him. I, too, used to be concerned about that until I read in the Bible that on the day before his arrest, Jesus spoke to his disciples and said: |
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“If you trust me, you are really trusting God. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer wander in the darkness. If anyone hears me and does not obey me, I am not his judge, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged at the Day of Judgment by the truth I have spoken. For these are not my own ideas, but I have told you what the father said to tell you. And I know that his instructions lead to eternal life.” |
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No, Jesus does not condem us – the truth does. The truth is that we and others manage to make hell for ourselves right here on earth, and unfortunately, beyond this earth. God does not want to condemn us. He loves us. By focusing on the aspect of condemnation and judgement we, too often, obliterate the light that Jesus wants to shine into our life. |
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He sent Paul to make this a better place than he found it. He and Teresa instilled that in their children and in others. They also witnessed of it through their lively, energetic manner. And when the time came that Paul could no longer be of help to others, the Lord called him home to be with Him. There is no doubt in my mind that Paul’s ministry will continue and bear much fruit here and in eternaty. Now his abilities will be greatly enhanced by the presence of the Holy Spirit to a degree that we cannot possibly imagine. |
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What we should be concerned about is how we feel about our life and the event that we call death. |
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I no longer see death the way most of humanity sees death. I know that my body will die someday. But I, in spirit, and you, in spirit, will live forever. I do not know vaguely why I came to this life but I believe that I agreed to come here because our Creator knew that it was the best experience He could give me to shape me for eternity. And if there had been any other place or life, that would have been better for me and for you, he would have sent us there. We were with Him before we came here. We will be with him when he calls us back home. |
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“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting. Not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness but trailing clouds of glory do we come.“ |
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Being born is like falling asleep and forgetting. |
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Dying is like awakening and remembering. |
