This web site is to honour the memories of two precious little angels that were taken from us far too soon.

JANUARY 30, “2004 – 2005”

One year today!

What we need to remember

This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect and love to two beautiful children. They entered the stage of history just a few short years ago and in the brief time they had on the stage of life they played their parts well. Too soon the drama of life ended for Chelsea and Cole Rodgers, the curtain of life fell prematurely and they moved through the exit, back to that eternity from which they came.

These children, unoffending, innocent, and beautiful were victims of a tragic act by others. An act that took them away from us before they had an opportunity to appreciate the potential that lay before them and the possibilities that they could have embraced. In our view, they exited the stage of life far too soon; their little candles were blown out creating a darkness in our hearts and in our lives. Now, we are left with the memories of happier times, the cadence of voices no longer audible to our ears but still heard in our hearts. 

Naturally, we question the brevity of these young lives. We ask God why did this happen? Why did innocent children die such unexpected and seemingly meaningless deaths? These are difficult and mesmerizing questions. The answers, if there are any, can only be found in the comfort of our faith. A faith which believes that life has to do with the quality of life, not its quantity. It believes that life is a gift from God, but life is not measured by the few short years we live here on earth, but the belief that life is for eternity - that while it may be short here it never ends for we return to eternity from which we came. We came from God and return to God. 

It is for us now, particularly Chelsea and Cole's parents, grandparents, to let these young people go, to give them over to God in whose kingdom they dwell that they may continue life in the spirit. And one day when life winds itself up for you here on earth, you, too, will return to eternity from which you came, and will join with them in a happy and joyous union. 

Chelsea and Cole lived briefly, but their lives, innocent, open, forgiving and joyful, taught us a great deal. They taught us how to live, how to love, how to forgive, how to forget the past and look with enthusiasm to the future. That is how we ought to be living our lives. Life is too short for any of us to live with resentment, grudges, unforgiveness, negativity. The Bible teaches us that "a little child shall lead them." This is so true of Chelsea and Cole, their innocence and acceptance, their love and forgiveness, certainly ought to lead us into a better life. 

I invite you all to take consolation in Christianity's affirmation that death is not the end. Death is not the period that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that puts it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a place of nothingness, but an open door which leads all of us into life eternal. Let this daring fact, this invincible surmise, be your sustaining power during these trying days.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in a eulogy for the young people that died in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing, on September 18, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, reminded the parents of these children that "life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of a river, life has its moments of drought and moments of flood. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. And if one will hold on, you will discover that God walks with you. And that God is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace."

So today, you do not walk alone. You gave this world wonderful children. They didn't live long lives but they lived meaningful lives. Their lives were distressingly small in quantity, but enormously large in quality. Nor did they die in vain. God had a purpose for them, and that purpose can now be realized by our commitment to love and justice, peace and good will.

In John's gospel, Jesus in speaking to his disciples, said, "Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Fathers house are many rooms, if it were not so would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you. And if I prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you will be also."

Let us be comforted in the fact that God has, indeed, prepared a place for these little ones, and that they are safe in the arms of Jesus. Praise be to God. Amen.

Hourly Statistics by Ruby Lane