Bedside Blessing

This is the most difficult thing I have ever written, but it also felt like the most important. Almost all religions use a blessing after passing to mark the sacredness of us as embodied beings and the separation of body and spirit that death brings. The blessing of different aspects of a person’s physical being allows us to honour the many ways they have touched our lives and to say goodbye fully. Please feel free to adapt it to your own use, or if you wish, contact me and I would be honoured to write one specifically for your loved one.

Blessing of the Body and Freeing of the Soul
(for my darling)

Peter is covered lovingly with a McMaster blanket. His family joins hands surrounding him while the minister stands alongside.

For this blessing, you are welcome to open or to close your eyes…

We gather as a family who loves this man
and has been blessed to be loved by him;
Brother, Husband, Father, Baba and Poppi to those here
And so much to so many beyond this small circle
We come to honour his wonderful life and to bless him in death;
That as his body and spirit go their separate ways,
We send him forth, knowing deep in his soul that our love is always with him.

We bless his head (minister holds hand over top of his head area)
Seat of mind and consciousness, of thoughts and ideas

We bless his heart (minister holds hand over heart area)
Home of love and feelings, of affection and joy

We bless his hands (minister holds hand over each hand area)
Hands that hold and help, that give and receive, that have done so much

We bless his body (minister holds hands over the body area)
Temporary earthly home for his everlasting spirit

We bless his feet (minister hold hands over the area of both feet)
They have carried him through this life;
Now our Love will carry him the rest of the way
To live forever in our hearts, minds and memories.
We have loved the man who lived in this body
But it can carry him no longer
So let us release this body into memory
And in doing so let all illness fall away
Let go of all that is not of him;
Anything that is hard for us to remember,
Let us begin to forget
May his being be free of every struggle that he bore
May his spirit be restored in wholeness to health, love and joy.

Now let us pause and if need be, look around this room
Or look inward to our minds’ eye
To remember in joy all that he is and was to us
And restore to our eyes and minds
Peter/Pop/Baba/Poppi as he was in life

This body has given life and joy to those in this room
These hands have held us as babies, touched our faces with love
Made turkey dinners and butter tarts and jam for us to eat
His mind has encouraged learning in us all and given much to the world
He has taught us respect, kindness, responsibility and honour

His great heart has loved and been loved; he is our Hearts’ Delight
A good son and brother, a loving husband to two lucky women,
an awesome father to four, an adored and adoring Poppi to six

He has waded streams on strong legs; his feet have taken him around the world and carried him home to the place he loved best – the arms of those who love him.

So as we take him into our hearts in a new way, let our memories be of his twinkling eyes, his beaming smile, his hugs, his laughter, his quiet strength, his passion for his family, for fishing, for learning and for all things McMaster

And above all, let us recall his love.
We are so blessed to love and be loved by him.
And we always will be
Peter, Pop, Baba, Poppi –
You take our love with you
Your love will always be with us.
We love you and will be with you always.
Amen.