Janet Greer

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

March 23, 2019

Janet Greer

          What is wrong with this picture?  We have a full church, the choir, glorious music, uplifting scripture readings, beautiful flowers, and a lovely reception awaiting us after the service.  What is wrong, of course, is that the guest of honor is not here, at least not physically.  But if Janet were here, she would have baked at least 6 dozen homemade cookies for the reception, taken a complete meal to the bereaved, made some soup from scratch to put in the freezer for a meal on another day, and written one of her lovely notes to express her love and concern.  In the middle of doing all of that, Janet would have realized that the food crate in the coat closet was full and she would have made a delivery to the Hudson Food Pantry.  For Janet, as has been said many times, food is love.

          Food is love.  We are not talking about cheap comfort food here.  For Janet, authentic food is genuine love.  Janet knew the capacity of a good meal shared around a table to build community.   Janet loved to cook for people and to create the kind of space around a meal where people could talk, laugh or cry, and share their lives.  Janet also worked tirelessly to make sure less fortunate people had access to food so they could create meals for their own families, participating in any outreach ministry she could that provided food to those who are hungry.  Janet knew the power of community to sustain people in good times and in hard times, and she had a gift for making community happen.  In the gospel reading, Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Then Jesus said that the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.  Janet poured her love of God and her neighbor into the world through food.  Today, we gather together in this place, a community of people who have come together from all over the country.  Many of us do not know each other.  Yet we are bound together today to share this very simple meal at this table, in this place Janet loved so much and where she shared so many meals.  Janet has once again created community as we share food and stories, laugh and cry together and  celebrate the life of our loving, gracious Janet.

          Food is love.  Janet also knew that food nourishes our souls, and our souls hurt today.  We gather to celebrate her life, but we also gather to share our grief and acknowledge the deep hole her death leaves in our hearts.  We gather to pray for each other and hold each other in our grief.  Scripture tells us that Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, so we have no shame in shedding our own tears at the death of a loved one.  Janet did not just make meals for those who were celebrating, or those who were hungry.  Janet also made meals for those who were hurting.  One of the last things Janet did was to make a meal and take that meal to another family who was hurting.  Janet was not naïve. Janet did not think that any meal, no matter how well prepared, how delicious, how healthy, or how much chocolate was involved, would heal a broken heart.  But Janet knew that a good meal could make people feel loved, and that love has the power to heal.  So feel the love around you.  Let that love sink into your hearts.  Let the love of Janet surround you and the love of God comfort you.  The reading from Romans reminds us that nothing, neither death nor life nor angels nor archangels nor anything in heaven or on earth, not even cancer or grief can separate us from the love of God.  Janet and I exchanged a lot of scripture through text messages over the last two years, but we also exchanged some more secular and perhaps less reverent text messages.  One of the more secular messages was a quote from Christopher Robin to Pooh, and I think Janet would say these words to you today “Promise me you will always remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”  You are brave enough, strong enough, and wise enough to meet the weeks and months to come because between God’s love and Janet’s love you have the bravery, strength, and wisdom that you need.

          Food is love.  Lastly, Janet knew that food nourishes and nurtures our bodies.  Our problem today is with the body and the fact that our bodies do not last forever, no matter how well they are nourished.  And yet, as Christians we know that we are more than just our body.  We proclaim that death is not the end of life; that, in Jesus, we have been given eternal life.  Death does not separate us from the love of God.  Death brings us closer to God as we enter God’s eternal presence.  In her baptism all those years ago, Janet was united with Jesus in his death and resurrection.  In her death on February 28, she was joined with Jesus in new life, in the place Jesus prepared for her, in that place where there is no pain or grief, and God’s love is everywhere.  Janet lived her life as an expression of God’s love for the world.  Now she lives in that place where God’s love will nourish and strengthen her for all eternity.

                                                                             Amen.