Al Donley

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

January 25, 2020

Al Donley

          When I last visited Al, he was in hospice with a room overlooking Lake Erie.  Al was tired and while we talked a little bit, mostly we kept silence.  After a bit, Al looked at me and said “Let’s sing something.”  “What would you like to sing, Al?”  “How about ‘O Come, all ye faithful,” was his reply.  So, on January 14, a bit out of season, looking out over Lake Erie, we sang “O come, all ye faithful.”  Al’s voice was a bit wobbly on the verse, but when we came to the refrain, his deep Al Donley voice rang strong and clear with the words “O come, let us adore Him.”  When Ted and Colleen arrived, Al wanted to sing some more.  That time there was a little debate about whether to sing “Amazing Grace” or “O come all ye faithful.”  The latter won out once again, and the four of us sang together.  And again, when we got to the refrain, Al’s voice gained strength and the words came out as strong and true as if Al was singing in the choir.

          “O come let us adore him.”  Perhaps that was just Al’s favorite hymn.  But as I thought about Al, I thought that perhaps, lying in the bed in hospice, looking out over the lake and peering into eternity, Al decided that there was really nothing left but to give God adoration and praise.  Of course, all Al really wanted was to do that in the comfort of his own home surrounded by his family and his beloved Carol, which happened the next day.

          The life we celebrate this day is one that found abundant and tangible ways to adore God.  Al adored God through all kinds of service from outreach ministries here at Christ Church and his work on Christian formation in the wider church, to his vast and creative work to help students get a college education, to his 19 years on the Hiram village council, to his steady and wise presence in difficult times.  Al adored God through his devotion to his family, especially his deep love and great respect for Carol.  And, I believe Al’s well known sense of humor reflected something of the sense of humor God must have as God looks at God’s creation.  In the gospel, we hear Jesus say “I am the Good Shepherd” then we hear Jesus describe the lengths the Good Shepherd will go to in order to serve and care for his sheep.  We experienced some of that Good Shepherd in Al and the many, many ways Al used his life to serve others.  And in that service, God has been adored over and over again.  O come, let us adore him.

          There is so much to celebrate today and there are so very many stories to share.  However, we are also here to grieve this loss.  Al was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend, and mentor to many who were touched by his life.  Grief is hard.  Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, his friend.  We pray for Al, but also for each other this day, that we can both comfort each other and look to God for comfort.  Paul writes in the passage from Romans that we just heard “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Nothing, not this death nor any other death, can separate us from the love of God.  We can hold onto that as we walk the weeks and months ahead and know that Al would still sing “O come, let us adore him.”

          Lastly, we gather this day to commit Al’s life to God.  At Al’s baptism decades ago, both his earthly life and his eternal life were committed to God, and Al spent just a few days short of 83 years living out that commitment.  In his death, Al was joined with God in new life, eternal life.  Both Al’s earthly life, and Al’s eternal life bear out the words from the book of Wisdom “Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.”  Al has been raised by God to that place where he can abide with God in love forever.   For that, in the midst of our grief, we give God thanks and praise.  “O come, let us adore him.”

                                     

                                                                                      Amen.