Burial at Sea

At St. Thomas by the Sea, my office door was always open on a clear cool day to let the salty breeze come in, and so that we could hear the surf crashing a block away. On one such day some years ago, a parishioner came to discuss his burial preferences. Always a meticulous man, he had specified his funeral liturgy from the first hymn, the particular Burial Office, the Eucharistic Prayer and all the Bible readings, to the closing Navy hymn.

A dedicated member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for many, many years, both in Michigan and in Florida, he asked that his ashes be spread at sea from a Coast Guard vessel if possible; otherwise, interred in the memorial garden beside St. Thomas by the Sea, Laguna Beach.

Weldon was a healthy, vigorous man whom I knew and relied on from the time we first met at Grace Church, PCB in May 2000, right to the time of his accidental fall and subsequent death in August 2011. His funeral service abided by his wishes precisely. Yesterday, the United States Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary honored him with burial at sea, sending him off gloriously. It was a beautiful Florida morning under a deep blue sky lined with magnificent white clouds, and a nearly calm sea with slight breeze. One large USCG vessel escorted by two smaller USCG craft and one CG Auxiliary boat, took us out into the Gulf of Mexico three miles off the coast beyond Panama City Beach, where we spread Weldon Faull’s ashes into the deep:

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord;
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;
and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God;
whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold,
and not as a stranger.

For none of us liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself.
For if we live, we live unto the Lord.
and if we die, we die unto the Lord.
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our
prayers on behalf of thy servant Weldon, and grant him an
entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of
thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth
and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.

Psalm 139 Domine, probasti

O LORD, you have searched me out, and known me. *
    You know my sitting down and my rising up;
    You understand my thoughts long before.
You are about my path, and about my bed, *
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
For lo, there is not a word in my tongue, *
    but you, O LORD, know it altogether.

You have beset me behind and before, *
    and laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me; *
    I cannot attain unto it.
Where shall I go then from your Spirit? *
    or where shall I go then from your presence?
If I climb up into heaven, you art there; *
    if I go down to hell, you art there also.
If I take the wings of the morning, *
    and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there also your hand shall lead me, *
    and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me, *
    then shall my night be turned to day.
Yea, the darkness is no darkness with thee,
but the night is as clear as day; *
    the darkness and light to thee are both alike.

As the ashes are cast into the sea:

UNTO Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother Weldon, and we commit him to the deep; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the sea shall give up her dead; and the bodies of those who sleep in Jesus shall be changed, and made like his glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon him.

May his soul, and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. In the Name of God: Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Back at the pier as we departed the ship, Margaret said, “Weldon would have been proud.” Indeed he would have been. He was well and honorably sent off. Thank you, Harry Sweezey, for arranging it.

Many thanks to the men and women of the USCG and CG Auxiliary who loved, respected, and ultimately so proudly honored this dedicated man.

TW+