On the death of Vicki

( on the death of my friend Vicki Langmaid...a 'bit of a homily' and a poem written in the depths of Central Australia)
Now Malcolm's a nice chap,
but even he would admit
that Vicki is a lot more likeable than he is!

She said to me, more than once,
"I wish I had more faith....like Malcolm!"
And I would wonder and think...
You probably do!
She was ever conscious
that she came to the Christian faith
as an adult.
Yet it was all there
as far as I could see.
She understood
what we have been talking about
in this parish for the last few months
that we are to become and be
and indeed realise that we already are
The Body of Christ
for others..
The life that expresses love
that engenders forgiveness
that brings healing and wholeness .
Joy and peace.

Does this sound like anyone we know?

As we come to share in this sacrament
Bread and Wine
the tokens of Christ's Body and Blood
we remember that this is not a fading memory
of some Jewish guy 2000 years ago
but about the way we live our lives.
We are the Body of Christ
and those of you who are not
You can be!!!

Vicki was and is

...and so in the depths of Central Australia in the last few days
I penned this little poem about this woman
proud to call my friend, sad that she has died
really sad!
But she lives in Christ.
Can we be tantalised to grow into an understanding
of what this might mean 
for you and me?


On the death of Vicki!

This woman.
This wife
this mother
this sister
this grandmother
this friend is dead
The Body of Christ
which she humbly owned
for but a few years is dead
Taken down from the cross
and laid in a tomb
Christ lies dead.
The Body of Christ
which she, emboldened by challenge,
renewed by a life well-lived
so well lived!
Interesting and interested (one said)
Vigour, fire,
twinkle in the eyes
steely silver hair
embodied humbly, albeit,
but well.
Now this we know!
that the Body of Christ
is resurrected
it is alive.
That even though we die
yet we shall live.
Not in fading memory!
Behold I tell you this mystery
we shall not all die
we shall live
Not just, I say again, in fading memory
sweet as it is
but flawed by time,
but in the certainty
that we are,
she is, already,
the Body of Christ.
And that body
though dead
is alive
in Christ
in God
in her.