Nothing Can Separate Us

This sermon was preached at the funeral of a radiant and faithful churchman. His death followed a long illness during which he was cared for at home by a loving family.

Separation - it's a mournful, frightening word. Separation is the first step in ending a marriage, the dread of every mother taking a small child into a crowd, the heart of loneliness. Separation is the worst punishment you can mete out on an inmate in prison; the isolation cell is dreaded, for it means separation from all that's familiar and all human contact. Separation is also the source of our greatest grief today. We mourn Homer's loss, for now we must face life separated from him.

How radical and refreshing, therefore, are the words of Saint Paul to the Romans: "Nothing can separate us from the lo…