Bidding Farewell To Arnie Green

The first temple in California — Like my parents, Arnie and his wife were sealed for time and eternity in my childhood temple, the Los Angeles California Temple.
(Wikimedia CC photo by Bytebear at the English language Wikipedia)

“The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.” (President Russell M. Nelson)

My wife and I spent the first half of today at the viewing and funeral for our friend Arnold H. Green. (His obituary can be read here.) It was a wonderful and inspiring service. The chapel and cultural hall were full of friends and colleagues and former colleagues. It was a great reunion, though nothing like the one that Arnie has been enjoying on the other side..

The simple but profound words above, from President Russell M. Nelson, appeared in the funeral program that was designed by members of Arnie’s family.

Arnie, as I remember him — Dr. Arnold H. Green, of BYU

The family also chose to include in the funeral program two quotations from a devotional address that Arnie delivered at Brigham Young University on 5 July 2005 under the title “Discernment for Journeying Through Babylon to Athens and Zion”:

“I pray that we shall resolve to discern our way to worthy destinations in mortal life; that we shall resolve to strengthen our minds to appreciate with exhilaration our intellectual heritage, to understand our complex world more fully, and to love the Lord and serve His children more effectively; and that we shall resolve to consecrate and sanctify ourselves, our assets, and our environments.”

Al-Ahramaat — An image of the famous Giza complex near Cairo was included in the program, emblematic of one important phase of Arnie Green’s life. He was a professor at the American University in Cairo for many years, and served as president of the Cairo LDS Branch. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

“We start with our personal core and proceed outward to whatever periphery our influence can reach. If we are blessed with wealth, we consecrate it to the Lord — who told Martin Harris not to covet his own property. If we are blessed with learning, we devote it to strengthening God’s enterprises and His children — our brothers and sisters. In that regard, so many scriptures pair worshipping God with serving our fellow beings that we must regard them as symbiotic, mutually necessary endeavors. We can’t serve God effectively without serving each other effectively.”

BYU's J'lem Center, near dusk — Another image included in the program was one of Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, located on Mount Scopus (which is, essentially, the Mount of Olives), near the main campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Arnie Green served as director of the Jerusalem Center and as president of the Israel District of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

Bidding farewell to Arnie Green