Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

I was standing by the window

On a cold and cloudy day

When I saw the hearse come rolling

To carry my mother away

Will the circle be unbroken

Bye and bye Lord bye and and bye

There's a better home a waiting

In the sky Lord in the sky

I have a funeral tomorrow. The father of a member of my parish died after several years living with Alzheimers disease.

She wrote a eulogy for him and asked that I give it. She wrote with simplicity and eloquence about the gradual diminishing of her strong, silent, athletic father. I wish I could tell you more about it.

"He forgot how to dial the phone. Forgot his apartment number; what floor he lived on; how to use the elevator. On Tuesdays I would take him to bowling with his friends. But he forgot how to bowl; how to tie his shoes; how to take turns."

later....

"He forgot how to walk and get up.....He forgot how to lift his arms. He forgot how to eat with utensils. He forgot to stay awake...He forgot how to swallow....He forgot how to breathe..."

Her dad loved country western and gospel music an asked that this song be played as the recessional tomorrow. I found two sets of words, those more traditional above, and more religious below.

There are loved ones in the glory,

Whose dear forms you often miss.

When you close your earthy story,

Will you join them in their bliss.

Will the circle be unbroken,

By and by Lord by and by,
In a better home-awaiting,

In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

We may forget, but God remembers. God remembers God's promises, sealed in Jesus' death and resurrection. And God remembers us, our names, our faces, hopes, our griefs. God remembers how to feed us and to tie our shoes, God remembers where we live and the way to us.