James H. Moser Memorial Service Oct. 7, 2006

 Jim loved music of all kinds, and every now and then at our Wednesday morning prayer breakfast, or on some other occasion, he would quote the lyrics of some popular song that helped to illustrate a life experience or a spiritual concept. Once for example, about 6 or 7 years ago, he gave a little talk here on a Sunday morning, thanking a crew of church members who had worked together to put a new roof on the Moser house, and he began by quoting the Beatles’ song entitled “Help.” 
 “When I was younger, so much younger than today, 
 I never needed anybody’s help in any way. 
 But now those days are gone, I’m not so self assured. 
 Now I find I’ve changed my mind, and opened up the doors.
 
  Help me if you can I’m feeling down, 
 and I do appreciate you’re being round. 
 Help me get my feet back on the ground. 
 Won’t you please, please, help me... 
 
 As I recall it, Jim commented that it’s sometimes hard to ask for help, or to receive it, but the church can be a place of mutual help, a community in which we learn that it’s OK to receive – as he had just received the help of all these volunteer roofers – and where it’s also blessed to respond with help for others. It was a good talk, well thought out, from both the heart and the head.
 In the spirit of quoting popular songs, I am sure Jim would have appreciated the reading from Ecclesiastes, requested by his family, that was set to music back in the 1960’s by our Hudson Valley folksinger, Pete Seeger. The song, as many of you know, was called “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and it added that phrase again and again to the words of scripture. “To everything (turn, turn, turn), there is a season (turn, turn, turn) and a time for every purpose under heaven.....” Whenever I hear the song it makes me think of the turning of the hands of time, or the turning of the earth, and of the order and balance of life in which weeping and laughing, dancing and mourning, war and peace, all have their place, and the affirmation that there is purpose in birth and purpose even in dying.
 On this day as we are remembering and mourning a dear friend and loved one, we’re not necessarily expected to call death a good thing. We don’t seek death, and we resist it for the sake of life, but as we mature in our lives we learn to accept that death is a part of this life in which for everything there is a season. And if we are people of faith we can face this reality, death, with a hope that is grounded in the promises of God through Christ, the promise that life goes on in the care of our creator, Lord and friend. I am grieving the loss of Jim, a good church member and in many ways a good friend to me, but my grief is tempered by the knowledge that for him this is a day of liberation, a day of new beginnings, a day of freedom. He has come to the season of death and new life, and for this I hope you will be able to join me in giving thanks.
 As we remember Jim there are so many significant facets of his life that could be lifted up, and I’d like to cite a few that I saw, some serious and some not as serious.
 First, I saw in Jim a great sense of loyalty. He had great loyalty to his roots and family heritage in Ohio – settled here for 30 some years, yet somehow connected to the people and places of his youth. He loved going to reunions of his high school – even when his health was so problematic in recent years; he loved family gatherings, the most recent significant one, I think being the wedding for Dan and Lesley. I saw this loyalty to his nuclear family in his great concern for his brother Ed, who was diagnosed with leukemia this summer. Though he knew it was not really realistic, Jim’s first question was whether he could be a bone marrow donor for his brother. He had that kind of loyalty to his family, roots and heritage...... Jim had great loyalty to his family here too, expressed in pleasant things like his support of their athletic endeavors, and in harder  things like his standing by them in some times of trouble, and his prayers of concern so many times here at church when Dan was being shipped overseas again. One of his daughters made this witness to Jim’s loyalty as she remarked a few days ago, “He supported our intellectual development, even when he didn’t agree with it.” Jim was so proud of his children, and so appreciative of their caring. Especially in the recent years, I know how much Kurt’s presence and help meant to him...........  Jim was a loyal member of our church, serving on various commissions as a dependable leader – most notably on the worship commission for quite a few years. His dedication in coming to worship, especially in these recent years when it took such effort, was a real inspiration. I loved hearing him read scripture, with his rich bass voice. A few years ago as we were having a discussion about changing our Sunday morning schedule, and as some people were becoming very agitated about how changes would affect them, I heard Jim say this word of loyalty: “Just tell me when the services are and I’ll be there.” He was a loyal member of our fellowship....... And though this may not be the most important aspect of anyone’s life, Jim’s loyalty was also expressed in his passion for sports  – in loyalty to teams that often rewarded his devotion, like the Ohio State Buckeyes, but also to the Cleveland Indians, a team that for many decades left its followers’ love and passion absolutely unrequited.  He was a loyal man. 
 Today we can also recall Jim and the remarkable breadth of his interests and accomplishments, and I hope there will be some joy for you in such remembering. He was an intelligent man, who majored in English and always had a great respect and love for the written word. He taught high school English for several years in Ohio, while also  serving as an assistant coach, but embarked on a new career when IBM – seeking intelligent people to train as programmers – recruited him to come to the Hudson Valley. He worked for IBM until the early ‘90’s, and then in various contract positions related to IBM, generally in the area of writing technical manuals...... It makes me smile to think of the variety of avocational interests that were a part of Jim’s life. As a high school student he gave up playing football so that he could take another important role in a football-oriented community: drum major for the marching band..... He loved animals, and for a time he and Barbara raised St. Bernards and brought them to dog shows all over the area...... He was a hiker, camper and fisherman, sharing these things with his family......... He was an avid cook, especially of Chinese food, and taught Adrianna to use chopsticks when she was a baby......... He loved sports – as a participant in the various IBM leagues, as a fan at Roosevelt games when his kids were involved and even after, and of course as a follower of professional and college sports. I can recall quite a few happy outings with Jim for Marist basketball and Renegades baseball games....... He read widely, and even in recent weeks he made sure he got the daily newspaper, so that he could keep up on current events.......... He had a great sense of humor, with a fondness for wordplay, puns and wry observations. I took it as an honor that he would think I would be on the same humor wave length and get his joke, when in the hospital last spring he did a Richard Nixon impersonation, while telling me that he was going to be sent to a rehab center called “Whittier.” (Whitter was the college from which Nixon graduated.)
 We all know that Jim’s life, especially the last 5 years or so, was far from easy. I’ll share with you one more quote from a song he spoke of a couple of months ago as I visited him at the hospital in Hudson. It was a line from the song “Old Man River,” which goes “I gets weary and sick of trying; I’m tired of living and skeered of dying........” As we talked about it, it wasn’t the fear of dying that was the most prominent thought, but the weariness, and the great effort it took to keep trying. Most of us, whose troubles are really not anything worth complaining about, may find it hard to imagine how difficult and frustrating Jim’s life was in the last three years. And yet, he did keep trying despite getting weary, and sometimes getting sick of trying. He kept trying to rehab, and after that long, hard stay in the hospital and so many months in the center in Lake Katrine, he had the triumph of returning to his home and church – no longer walking, but participating in everything and trying to live as fully as possible. He kept trying to keep his mind functioning, and his relationships alive, when his body was failing in so many ways. He kept trying to live with a positive outlook, even when there were such frustrating limitations. He kept trying to be responsible – even in recent weeks requesting an absentee ballot, trying to be a good citizen. He kept trying, even when he was weary and sick of trying, but now we can give thanks that the season for struggles and trying has ended, and we can say of him some words of St. Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 
 When I met with Barbara and her daughters a few days ago to begin preparing for this service, I asked if there was a predominant thought to shape our memorial service. Each of us, in our own ways, I think can echo what Barbara said to me then “I’m just grateful to have had him in my life.”
 As we come to this season of separation and new beginnings, I pray that you will be sustained by that gratitude, and by the hope that is ours as children of the God of life.