Yesterday (Saturday) my wife and I attended the funeral of a member of our congregation whom we’ve known for a number of years. He and his (second) wife even came with us, a few summers ago, on a tour of Israel. He died on St. Valentine’s Day, and he would have celebrated his ninety-first birthday today (Sunday). Although inevitably aging, he was in quite good health until just a few days before his passing. Enviable, that.
Music was a very important part of his life — he sometimes played the organ in our sacrament meetings — and, before the service began, a recording of his own piano performance of various hymns and other pieces sounded in the chapel. So the music for the funeral was, predictably, very nice, including vocal renditions of “Weeping Mary” and “The Prayer”.
The link above takes you to a magnificent rendition of “The Prayer,” but, alas, the video is slightly out of sync with the sound. Here, though, are the lyrics:
I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our wayLead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe
[Andrea Bocelli (Celine Dion):]
La luce che tu hai
(I pray we’ll find your light)
Nel cuore resterà
(And hold it in our hearts)
A ricordarci che
(When stars go out each night)
Eterna stella sei
(Whoa)
Nella mia preghiera
(Let this be our prayer)
Quanta fede c’è
(When shadows fill our day)
Lead us to a place
(Guide us with your grace)
[Both:]
Give us faith so we’ll be safe
Sogniamo un mondo senza più violenza
Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza
Ognuno dia la mano al suo vicino
Simbolo di pace, di fraternità
[Andrea Bocelli (Celine Dion):]
La forza che ci dà
(We ask that life be kind)
È il desiderio che
(And watch us from above)
Ognuno trovi amor
(We hope each soul will find)
Intorno e dentro sé
(Another soul to love)
[Both:]
Let this be our prayer
[Celine Dion:]
Let this be our prayer
[Andrea Bocelli:]
Just like every child
[Celine Dion:]
Just like every child
[Both:]
Need to find a place
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe
È la fede che
Hai acceso in noi
Sento che ci salvera
I love to hear about lives that have been well-lived, and this one was definitely among those. Even when we’ve known people for a long time, we still learn much about them, about their earlier lives and about how they were seen through the eyes of their families, at their funerals. And, in my judgment, persons are the most irreplaceably valuable and interesting constituents of the universe.
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