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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bf2e9c7eddd36f3a759466abeeda2042.pdf
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Text
Prayer
Offered at the Celebration of Dorothy Boelen’s Life
Richard A. Rhem
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Grand Haven, Michigan
August 1, 2013
In the spirit of quiet anticipation,
we come consciously into your Presence, Sacred Mystery of Being,
in Whom we live and move and have our being.
We would be still and know that you are God,
our Sustainer through this earthly pilgrimage and our eternal home.
Hidden from us in a cloud of unknowing,
yet so very present to us in life’s Grace moments,
moments when Love becomes tangible
because embodied in another, in a face, a smile, a touch.
This one whose life we celebrate today
was such an instrument of your Love, a channel of your Grace.
What a gift we have shared!
Loss is proportionate to love;
pain is measured by what the one removed meant to us –
and this one, our Dorothy, meant so much.
There is no denying the loss.
Yet, O God, there is no denying the wonder as well,
wonder at the beauty of love she embodied,
wonder at grace amazing, simplicity, humility, authenticity,
indeed, an altogether lovely humanity.
We remember the way she was.
We remember and we give thanks that our lives were enriched
living in the circle of light that shone through her.
Good and Gracious God,
we have gathered in worship to remember and to give thanks –
to remember a wife, a mother, grandmother,
great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend.
We acknowledge our sadness as over the last years and months
we witnessed that brilliant mind closed even as her eyesight dimmed.
The strong and gracious presence was reduced to quiet desperation.
We were heartbroken that we lost her long before she breathed her last.
© Grand Valley State University
�Prayer in Memory of Dorothy Boelens
Richard A. Rhem
Gord’s loving care, family’s deep concern and love surrounded her.
But that vibrant one we loved and admired
was only a shadow of herself.
Yet, amazingly, O God, these are bittersweet moments.
There is no denying the loss
but there is no denying the wonder as well –
the wonder at the beauty of love, the meaning of life,
the sacredness of human bonding.
Things come into focus; we gain perspective,
We know in tangible experience what we thought we knew before,
but realize we didn’t know as deeply –
That what really matters finally is the love we’ve known –
love given, love received.
Our hearts swell, eyes moisten as we contemplate it all –
the gift we’ve known in this one
who loved so deeply, so broadly.
And in such a time as this, in such a place as this,
Gracious God, we are grateful above all
that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled,
swallowed up in death,
but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord,
and to die is to die unto the Lord,
so then whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Sacred Mystery of our lives,
You are there to hear our borning cry,
You are there when we are old.
And when we shut our weary eyes you are there
with just one more surprise.
With such full faith we bid our loved one farewell,
trusting in full assurance that
All will be well,
All will be well,
All manner of things will be well.
O God, our hearts are full, quite overwhelmed.
We commend our loved one, full of love,
into the abyss of Your Love,
in the name of the Good Shepherd whose love she embodied,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
© Grand Valley State University
Page 2
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Event
Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens
Location
The location of the interview
St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RA-1-20130801
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-08-01
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Title
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Prayer in Celebration of the Life of Dorothy Boelens
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
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eng
Description
An account of the resource
Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 1, 2013 entitled "Prayer in Celebration of the Life of Dorothy Boelens", on the occasion of Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens, at St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan. Tags: Prayer, Mystery, Death, Profile in Love, Family.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Death
Family
Mystery
Prayer
Profile in Love
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c2837192ee0376d99115a2b95a1c5149.pdf
57519ee30c733ca623c348bb13f62d81
PDF Text
Text
A Profile in Love
Celebrating the Life of Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13; I Corinthians 13; John 14:1-3
Richard A. Rhem
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Grand Haven, Michigan
August 1, 2013
We gather in worship to give God thanks for the life of Dorothy Kruizenga
Boelens and to celebrate her life, lived so fully, so well. In preparation for the
service I went to my Kruizenga file – Richard and Kathryn, Georgia, Stella, most
recently Margaret. I am very much aware that the meditations I have offered all
have in the beginning my own story, as my life has been impacted by the
Kruizenga family. I am a bit self conscious about that but I cannot help myself –
my life has been shaped by the Kruizenga clan and I am, at times like this, so
acutely aware that I owe so much to the family and to no one more than Dorothy.
Just two months ago I expressed at Margaret’s service how entwined my life has
been with this family and I must do so once more for no one has been as
responsible for all I have become and the community we shared for so many
years as Dorothy Boelens. And making that claim, expressing my debt, my
gratitude, my love, I include you, Gord. Without your complete support and full
involvement and generous provision, it could not have happened.
But on this occasion of the celebration of Dorothy’s life, I say without reservation,
she saved my life, was responsible for the wellbeing of my children – for whom it
was Aunt Dort and Uncle Gord – and made possible my ministry in Spring Lake
and the renewal, rebirth and creation of Christ Community, in which we shared
such rich community life. No one was more key than she. Her father, with great
wisdom and finesse brought the congregation to the decision to invite me to
return, risky decision that it was, given my personal circumstances, facing divorce
and custody struggles. But it was Dort who made it work. So many were so
gracious and helpful, but Dort filled in all the blanks. I could regale you with story
after story but it would take the day.
Just one accomplishment – she arranged for me to meet the love of my life –
Nancy. She probably knew if her life was ever to return to normal, my life would
have to find normalcy. What better way than to lead me to the beautiful lady who
would become my wife and a mother to my children. On Christmas Day, 1972,
Gord and Dort stood with us as we spoke our vows. But that was only Act I. In the
days of explosive growth and renewal, Dorothy was front and center.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Profile in Love
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
Bob Schuller’s Institute for Church Growth in California was new. I think nine of
us went out there, Gord and Dort among the nine. We came home and
implemented a plan for renewal and growth. R.J. Kruizenga was our volunteer
Business Manager. We went from one to two to three morning services and the
congregation voted to change our name from The First Reformed Church to
Christ Community Church and on the same evening extended a call to Gordon
Van Hoeven whom the congregation had sent into the ministry in the early ‘60’s.
The vote for the call was 124 yes, 7 no, and for the next eighteen years Gord tried
to discover who the 7 were! And then the name change: Dort’s mother, Kathryn, a
consistory wife responsible to cut the pies, wagered I wouldn’t get such a margin
on the name change proposal but, wonder of wonders, the vote was 120 yes, 4 no.
“Ladies in the kitchen” was the way it was. Consistory and Ministers were men
only! It was Dort’s Aunt Stella who broke that threshold, our first woman elder,
the first in the Muskegon Classis and one of the first in the RCA and there was no
one finer anywhere.
With growth in members and growing programs, no way Gordon and I could
keep up. At that time the paraprofessional idea was blooming and we formed a
paraprofessional team that worked wonders. Dorothy was on the first team and
served faithfully and fruitfully for several years. Her Young Moms’ Group was a
great success. One blizzardy winter day, school was canceled, roads weren’t
plowed, the parking lot wasn’t plowed, but from my study in the parsonage I
watched them arrive – young moms with babies in tow. They were not about to
miss their weekly gathering. Such was the importance of that group for those
young women and Dorothy was their Mother Superior. She was quite amazing in
so many ways – very intelligent, with fine gifts of leadership, organization, and
vision – and she brought her best gifts and full energy to our ministry at Christ
Community.
There is an Honor Roll of persons and families who have given their all and given
well. That is always the way with social movement, community endeavors and
especially congregations. It has been true for our congregation. Familiar names –
many of you can list them as you look back on the history of the Spring Lake
congregation. But, in terms of dedication, gifts of leadership and tireless service,
Dorothy heads the Honor Roll, flanked by her father and Aunt Stella.
Where does one go in Scripture to find a portrait of such a remarkable disciple? I
begin with the Hebrew poet who penned Ecclesiastes. The familiar third chapter
takes in the full scope of life in all of its varied experiences:
For everything there is a season
And a time for every activity under heaven.
…
God has made everything beautiful in its own time
And has put an eternal yearning in our hearts
Even as we live before the face of Mystery.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Profile in Love
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
Like the poet, Dort was a realist; she faced every day and every new experience
with a healthy perspective, well traditioned, spiritually open, unafraid. She was
well grounded and open to what may be opening on the far horizon. The poet
somehow got into the Hebrew Bible canon but sometimes that surprises me when
I read some of his wonderings, some of his doubts, some of his questions. He
dared to look at life in all its ambiguity and confess in many instances he just
didn’t get it – even in the ultimate matter of life and death. He writes,
…the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies so
does the other. They all have the same breath and humans have no
advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place, all are
from the dust and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human
spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?
He had no doubt that God is and God rules but as for the human situation – he
simply couldn’t figure it out and he was honest enough and healthy enough to live
with his questions. Yet, he affirms,
God has made everything beautiful in its own time
And he senses as well that God
Has put an eternal yearning in our hearts.
Dort was a person of faith, curious, questioning, but not pious. Invite her to a
theology class and she would be there. Don’t expect her to start a women’s prayer
group. She lived a wholesome spirituality, loved to think, to wonder. She was a
healthy model for me, enabling me to move beyond the pietism with which I
arrived in Spring Lake in 1960.
My primary focus in this reflection is St. Paul’s Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13.
I point out the context of Paul’s Love Chapter, not because of the nature of the
tensions and divisions in the Corinthian congregation, but rather just the fact
that the congregation was in a troubled state and how that stands in contrast to
our Christ Community experience. And why? Because of wise and competent lay
leadership. Names of beloved friends and leaders come to mind but in the context
of the celebration of Dorothy’s life, I think of R.J., her father, Stella, her aunt, to
say nothing of her mother Kathryn who kept the consistory wives in order as well
as the pizza makers.
Dort had a keen sense of where the future lay, what we should be doing, where we
should be moving. And she so loved the church community. She would not have
been caught up in any proud and ostentatious display of piety; that was not Dort.
But no matter what might become an issue in our community life, she was openminded, big-hearted, intelligent, and wise. Paul could have used her in Corinth;
I’m thankful I had her here.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Profile in Love
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
Addressing the turmoil in Corinth, Paul wrote a Profile in Love. As chapter 12
ends, Paul writes,
But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent
way. (Verse 31).
In the first paragraph he declares no spiritual gift amounts to anything if love in
its exercise is absent. Have we not all at some time or other witnessed a noisy
gong and clanging cymbal Christian piety? We have witnessed ostentatious
display of religious knowledge and boastful religious claims or proud offering of
gifts. Not Dort. Paul could be describing her practical, caring, everyday living out
of her following the way of Jesus as he writes,
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
That’s St. Paul’s Profile of Love. I submit to you it is a profile of Dorothy. Perhaps
at this point you suspect I am making her some ethereal angel. Not really. Dort
was a very remarkable person and in her practical, capable, caring ways she made
love concrete. There were no limits to her caring, no hesitancy to her extending
concrete care and aid. There was not a negative bone in her body, no pettiness, no
jealousy, no negativity.
Do I overstate the case? I don’t think so. I knew her intimately over many years in
so many concrete situations, professional, personal, social. She was a rare human
being. And thus I point you to Paul’s last paragraph – a beautiful expression of
the now and the then – our present in the mists of history’s ongoing saga and the
then of that future vision that awaits us, which in trust we await for ourselves and
celebrate for our dear Dorothy.
Remember again the context: St. Paul’s dealing with a congregation divided by
rival claims to spiritual superiority. His antidote? Love – deep-down practical
love expressed in personal and community relationships – common graces that
are so uncommon – kindness, openness, forbearance, delight in the true, the
good and the beautiful, never arrogant or rude or negative. And then he says, you
know, we really don’t know so much. History is foggy; we see only dimly, in a
mirror as it were. In fact, as we all once thought as a child and, thankfully, grew
up, matured and put away childish things, so it is in life’s ultimate issues and
questions. We who have grown up and put away childish ways remain, as a
matter of fact, in our childhood when it comes to the grand scheme of things. We
live before the face of Mystery. We do not know; we live by trust if we are wise,
mature, aware. So there is no place for arrogant absolutism or too certain
dogmatism. Humility befits us.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Profile in Love
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
But that is not Paul’s last word. In terms of the cosmic drama in which we are
caught up, we trust; we don’t see clearly –
Now we see in a mirror, dimly,
But he goes on with this marvelous affirmation:
but then we will see face to face.
And he continues,
I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully
known.
In sum:
Faith, hope, love abide…and the greatest of these is love.
Our Dorothy knew that, lived that. She lived that. She lived with some questions
unanswered and wasn’t ready to accept a preacher’s too easy answers without
facing the depth of the issues, and to live with questions, not having all the
answers, gave her no pause. She lived by faith! Her trust was in the good and
gracious God; she rested there.
But Love? Oh my, she loved without limit to one and all – generous to a fault!
And as to life’s ultimate questions shrouded in mystery – St. Paul writes,
…now dimly…but then face to face!
While with us she loved us, living in faith and hope, living the questions.
And now she knows! And I suspect it is more than she dared dream of!
Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Funeral Service for
Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens
Scripture Text
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13, I Corinthians 13,
John 14:1-3
Location
The location of the interview
St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven,
Michigan
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-20130801
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-08-01
Title
A name given to the resource
A Profile in Love
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 1, 2013 entitled "A Profile in Love", on the occasion of Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens, at St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan. Scripture references: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13, I Corinthians 13, John 14:1-3.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Community of Faith
Grace
Profile in Love