August 15, 2010
Memorial Service - Boggs Cemetery, Pound, Virginia
The Collins family gathers annually at the home place on Bold Camp on the Saturday before the third Sunday in August (this year that Saturday falls on the second Saturday of the month) and prepares for the traditional Sunday memorial service and dinner on the ground at the cemetery where Mommy and Daddy are buried. We know that only earthly bodies are buried here, as the preacher has preached and Kathy Gail has written in song, waiting to be "glorified".
This is a bitter sweet gathering - it keeps the family rooted in tradition, it reminds us of the brevity of life itself as we pay tribute to the the ones who gave us life as we know it; it reminds us of the importance of love and consideration of one another as each one is unique; and it is a sober reminder that death is a very real part of life, thereby we know the importance of living in full appreciation of each day. The usual Collins gatherings are filled with music, laughter and dance. This Sunday, however, is somber as we listen to the names of those buried there being read from a "scroll" of rememberance. We then have special prayer, songs about Heaven and things to come, then the preaching of God's word. And even as we each take out our offering of food and set up tables for the traditional "dinner on the ground" it is unusually quiet as we eat, visit and try to fan away the insects and stir the hot August air. It is yet another way the Collins Family celebrates the gift of life and the hope of each tomorrow.
The words of Kathy Gail's song tells the story of this tradition:
Glorified
September 3, 2008
From near and far we gather every year at summer’s end
To reunite another time with family and friends
We laid our loved ones on this hill a while ago to rest
And here we meet so faithfully each year to show respect
And as we recollect the times before our mother died
We talk about how wonderful if she were still alive
We decorate the headstones where beneath the ground she lies
Then gather close to worship and we hear our preacher cry
She’s not there, her body has been glorified
She’s not there; she left this earth the day she died
She has gone to be with Jesus and to claim her just reward
She is walking through the gardens with her Lord
We think of how our father passed so many years ago
We didn’t get to say goodbye and we still miss him so
We remember how he chose this peaceful resting place
Where the trees stand tall in the gentle breeze and the
Angels seem to say
He’s not there, his body has been glorified
He’s not there; he left this earth the day he died
He has gone to see St. Peter in the land beyond the sky
He is singing in the chorus up on high
As we survey this garden and the multitude of stones
And share our dinner on the ground as we’ve done for so long
We’ve sung and prayed and blessed the food and now we celebrate
The news we oft forget as we to life on earth relate
They’re not there, their bodies have been glorified
There’re not there, they left this earth the day they died
They have gone to live in mansions and to walk on streets of gold
They will welcome us there someday to the fold
Posted: Betty Sue
July 9, 2010
Memorial Service - Boggs Cemetery, Pound, Virginia
The Collins family gathers annually at the home place on Bold Camp on the Saturday before the third Sunday in August (this year that Saturday falls on the second Saturday of the month) and prepares for the traditional Sunday memorial service and dinner on the ground at the cemetery where Mommy and Daddy are buried. We know that only earthly bodies are buried here, as the preacher has preached and Kathy Gail has written in song, waiting to be "glorified".
This is a bitter sweet gathering - it keeps the family rooted in tradition, it reminds us of the brevity of life itself as we pay tribute to the the ones who gave us life as we know it; it reminds us of the importance of love and consideration of one another as each one is unique; and it is a sober reminder that death is a very real part of life, thereby we know the importance of living in full appreciation of each day. The usual Collins gatherings are filled with music, laughter and dance. This Sunday, however, is somber as we listen to the names of those buried there being read from a "scroll" of rememberance. We then have special prayer, songs about Heaven and things to come, then the preaching of God's word. And even as we each take out our offering of food and set up tables for the traditional "dinner on the ground" it is unusually quiet as we eat, visit and try to fan away the insects and stir the hot August air. It is yet another way the Collins Family celebrates the gift of life and the hope of each tomorrow.
The words of Kathy Gail's song tells the story of this tradition:
Glorified
September 3, 2008
From near and far we gather every year at summer’s end
To reunite another time with family and friends
We laid our loved ones on this hill a while ago to rest
And here we meet so faithfully each year to show respect
And as we recollect the times before our mother died
We talk about how wonderful if she were still alive
We decorate the headstones where beneath the ground she lies
Then gather close to worship and we hear our preacher cry
She’s not there, her body has been glorified
She’s not there; she left this earth the day she died
She has gone to be with Jesus and to claim her just reward
She is walking through the gardens with her Lord
We think of how our father passed so many years ago
We didn’t get to say goodbye and we still miss him so
We remember how he chose this peaceful resting place
Where the trees stand tall in the gentle breeze and the
Angels seem to say
He’s not there, his body has been glorified
He’s not there; he left this earth the day he died
He has gone to see St. Peter in the land beyond the sky
He is singing in the chorus up on high
As we survey this garden and the multitude of stones
And share our dinner on the ground as we’ve done for so long
We’ve sung and prayed and blessed the food and now we celebrate
The news we oft forget as we to life on earth relate
They’re not there, their bodies have been glorified
There’re not there, they left this earth the day they died
They have gone to live in mansions and to walk on streets of gold
They will welcome us there someday to the fold
Posted: Betty Sue
July 9, 2010
