For Jane Nies: Consider The Lilies, Behold The Radiance
As I walk and live in this stage of my life, good friends and companions whom I have known and loved on this earthly pilgrimage are no longer here. Jane Nies was one of them and she is now in the fullness of eternity with God.
I was privileged to be the homilist at her funeral which took place at my former parish, All Saints, Winter Park, FL. Jane and her husband Perry, became friends during the 12 years I served as Rector, and beyond.
In my homily, I spoke of the radiance of her life, her lifelong seeking for spiritual, intellectual, and psychological growth in her Christian journey.
I visited Jane’s family after her death, a visit filled with radiance and joy and laughter. Perry shared with me the love that he and Jane had for their summer remote Island home by the sea in Maine. They were surrounded for years and years by all that natural beauty, beholding and contemplating. They grew in their awareness that the natural beauty was not simply external, but was within them as well. In other words, they were aware of their oneness with the seen and the unseen beauty and mystery of God.
They lived at the intersection of two landscapes, where the vital interplay between the material and spiritual, the visible and invisible nourished their souls.
The Gospel lesson and text for my homily:
Luke 12:27-31
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Jane was a seeker of God and God’s Kingdom, God’s active presence and sufficiency. She had a heart filled with radiance, the radiance of God’s love. My life was enriched by her friendship. May she continue to grow in the glory and radiance of Christ and eternity.
I hope my reflections will bring hope and encouragement to you to behold the radiance in your life and of those you love.
As I walk and live in this stage of my life, good friends and companions whom I have known and loved on this earthly pilgrimage are no longer here. Jane Nies was one of them and she is now in the fullness of eternity with God. 
❤️❤️❤️