6) Rev. Dr. Jack Woodard’s Homily For David

From Psalm 127:

The Lord has done great things for us

And we are glad indeed.

 Those who sowed with tears

 Will reap with songs of joy.

 Those who go out weeping,

 Carrying the seed,

 Will come again with joy,

 Shouldering their sheaves.

We have come this morning to this place of worship to honor David Michael Ransom, a man of faith, a man of love, a man of hope.  And together, in honoring him, we express one faith as the People of The Book.

A single faith in the One God, One Allah, One Yahweh.

David’s life and love have helped to accomplish that.  Each rare time we are blessed by relating to one such man of faith, we may come to the dawn of discovering that there is vast mystery in the infinite Cosmos, quite beyond our finite comprehension.  A very new and more humble recognition of our finitude and the One Creator’s infinity, can be given us.

We may begin to grasp a new holy humility such as David embodied, that can enable a second faith journey to begin in our hearts and minds — a journey unafraid to reach beyond our old and cherished faith.

If we dare to pray to the One God for the courage to embark upon a second journey in faith, courage will be given to each of us.

History has produced a barbed thicket of rules, regulations, customs and concepts, which are not Holy, not ordained by the ONE, SUPREME GOD.  Instead, they were imposed by many centuries of three different stories.

Now that barbed thicket between the faithful worshippers of the single supreme god of the cosmos – the holy one we variously call God, the father or Allah or Yahweh, that barbed thicket we, not the one supreme God, we have set between us makes loving each other very difficult.

By his life and example, David surmounted those difficulties and helped us to see that loving each other need not be so complicated.

David was a man of faith who transcends the dividing parts.

Back in the Eighties, I served as rector of St. Stephen and the Incarnation.  David served with unforgettable distinction as Senior Warden, the finest I have seen in forty years of ministry.

We talked of our shared conviction that the People of The Book are indeed One People.

We agreed that the People of the Book worship the Same One SUPREME GOD, but see that ONE GOD through three histories and multitudes of cultures.

David has now crossed the separation line we call death.

Now David can see One God, face to face and not as through a glass darkly.

And now, we thank God for blessing us with David’s life and love and wisdom for a time.

May David’s example encourage each of us to begin a courageous second journey toward a new, strong, faith, broad in the One God of the Book.