Roman Clarkson

Body Presentation: Cremated and divided into an equal number of urns for wife and children.

Memorial Service: Preferably during a late afternoon at a beach, Nature is the important location.

Rituals: Release some of my ashes into the ocean or ground before the final prayer.

Service Participants: SOM Minister, Family and/or Friends

Order of Service

Invocation: Opening Prayer done by family member.

The opening prayer would be a reminder that the reason for gathering together is to celebrate the next step in my Spiritual journey.

Service: Performed by Minister. Theme is “Gratitude”

I would want the minister to speak about the necessity of gratitude in one’s life. I would like the Minister to illicit inspiration for the talk from their meditation and prayer work as they reflect on my transition.

Eulogy:

We all knew this day would come. Every person in history has made this physical journey and Roman was no different. While he lived in this physical realm he experienced life as a spiritual being, full of love, hope and gratitude. He spent a great deal of his early life striving to be more than he could imagine and be someplace other than where he was. It wasn’t until he finally realized that by forsaking the present for the past and the future he was forsaking himself, his family, and his friends. It was then that he began to realize that there was only one moment that really counted, the present. It was then that he began to shape his life into the one he desired. It was then that he decided to experience life as love, life as fun, and life as peace. This would be his motto for the remainder of his long life.

I am tempted to say the many things that he accomplished in his life. I am tempted to remind you of all the loved ones near and far who share our memories of Roman. In the end, he wanted to be remembered as someone who tried. He was someone who tried to make a difference in the world when doubt and fear were near his heart. He tried to do the right thing even when he knew he would fail. He tried to be more than himself for those near and far. He tried to apologize when words were not enough. One of his messages would be to forget failure and try, just try every moment. Try until your heart finally surrenders to love.

Lastly, his lifelong message, the one that rang truest for him was one of gratitude. Despite all his youthful discontent and depression, he discovered that he expressed love best as gratitude. He expressed and felt most loved when he was helping someone other than himself. This service to others was his way of saying “I love you because we are one and the same”. I am sure that even as we leave here today, his gratitude will long be felt and shared amongst each one of us, spread to our friends and family as we continue expressing our lives.

So we go on our paths from here in peace, in love and fun. And so it is.

Ritual: Releasing of my ashes.

Benediction: Closing Prayer done by family member.

The closing prayer I hope would be an inspiriting message of joy, love and the promotion of peace.

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