Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part VI: Christian Hope

"Behold I am making all things new. 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, 

the first and the last, 

the beginning and the end." 

~Revelation 21

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part VI:

Christian Hope

Part VI

We have seen a great mystery:

We shall all be changed.

We shall be raised in Christ

…..as we were buried in Christ.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

The dwelling of God will be with his people.

God will wipe every tear from their eyes;

…..and death shall be no more.

…..There shall be no mourning, no crying nor

…..pain;

…..sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

For the old things are disappearing.

Revelation 21

The poor will be raised from the dust;

…..the sorrowing, lifted up from their ashes.

Song of Hannah

Those who sowed in tears

shall reap with songs of joy.

Psalm 126

For the word of the Lord is peace.

Psalm 85

"Behold, I am making all things new.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the beginning and the end."

Revelation 21

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam, by Cary Ratcliff
quoted from Lament for a Son, by Grieving Father, Nicholas Wolterstorff

Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part V: The Endurance of Faith

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part V:

The Endurance of Faith

Part v

Our days are like grass;

….we flourish like flowers of the field;

….the wind passes over and we are gone,

….and our place knows us no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord abides forever.

~Psalm 103

Though the fig trees do not blossom

….nor fruit be on the vine;

….the produce of the olive fail

….and the fields yield no food;

though the flock be cut off from the fold

….and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet will I rejoice in the Lord;

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

~Habakkuk 3

Picture: thanks to Grieving Mother Faye Marie Miller

Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part IV: What Eric, (the child) himself, might say...

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part IV:

What Eric, (the child) himself, might say

Part IV

In my Beginning is my end

In my end is my beginning

T. S. Eliot

O Lord, you have fathomed and known me;

...you know when I sit down or stand;

...you created my innermost parts

...as you wove me within the womb.

You saw me before I was born,

...my days were inscribed in your book

...they were all formed and set

...before a single one came to be!

Psalm 139

My heart is not proud,

my eyes are not haughty;

I am not intent on great things

nor achievements sublime.

My soul lies at rest

as quiet as a child;

my soul is as still as a babe

at its mother's breast.

Psalm 131

I depart in peace

for my eyes have seen your salvation.

You have shown me the path of life.

In your presence there is fulness of joy,

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16

In justice I go to behold your face;

I shall find joy in your likeness when I awake.

Psalm 17

Picture, thanks to Grieving Mother, Terria Brewer

Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part III - We Are Not Alone in Our Suffering; God Shares It With Us / The Empty Chair

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part III:

We Are Not Alone in Our Suffering; 

God Shares It With Us

Part III

In all our afflictions he is afflicted,

…and the angel of his presence saves us;

in his love and pity he redeems;

…he lifts us up and carries us all our days.

Isaiah 63:9

He bears our griefs

…and carries our sorrows;

by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4, 5

Picture thanks to ~Love and Missing You So

Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part II: A Lament

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part II:

A Lament

Part II


Like a bird alone in the desert
...or an owl in a ruined house
I lie awake and I groan,
...like a sparrow lost on a roof.
Ashes are the bread that I eat,
...I mingle tears with my drink.

Psalm 102

From the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
...give heed to my lament.

Psalm 130

Does the grave declare your great love?

Is your truth proclaimed in the tombs?

Are your wonders admired in the dark

...or your mercy where all is forgotten?

Psalm 88

Why do you turn away?

Why do you hide your face?

I wait for you, my soul waits

...and in your word I hope.

Psalm 130

Restore me, O God my Savior.

Psalm 85

Friday's Faith - Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam - Part I: The Awfulness of Death

Friday's Faith

Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam

Part I:

The Awfulness of Death

In honor of their son Eric, Claire and Nicholas Wolterstorff commissioned composer Cary Ratcliff to write a requiem, to a text which they composed mainly from biblical passages. The first performance of Requiem: Eric Wolterstorff in Memoriam was given on May 18, 1986 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Following is the text. Part I expresses the awfulness of Death.

Part I:

Truly terrible is the mystery of death. 

I lament at the sight of the beauty 

created for us in the image of God 

which lies now in the grave 

without shape, without glory, without 

consideration. 

What is this mystery that surrounds us? 

Why are we delivered up to decay? 

Why are we bound to death? 

~John of Damascus

There is hope for a tree if it be cut down, 

that it will sprout again

and its shoots will not cease. 

But we die and disappear. 

We breathe our last, and where are we?

~Job 14

Never again do we return home; 

our dwelling place knows us no more. 

~Job 7

Picture, Ashes, thanks to Google Images
Requiem, from Lament for a Son ~Nicholas Wolterstorff (1987)