It’s
important for us to be reminded from
time to time, that the death of the physical body should not come as a
surprise. They all wear out, eventually, and during the course of our
lives we
acquire a little skill at making educated guesses about when a
particular body
will finally wear out. Since it’s obvious that every physical
life comes to an
end in its own good time, it should be equally obvious that the
transition from
natural to spiritual life should be as natural and easy as possible
since the
Lord’s goal is to get every one of us from this world into the
joy of heavenly
life, and since everyone’s got to do it without instructions. It
must be pretty
natural and easy.
In fact,
Emanuel Swedenborg tells us, after
observing people entering the spiritual world from the natural world
for more
than 27 years, that it is so natural that sometimes the people
who are
spirits feel so comfortable in their new life that they don’t
really believe
they’ve died. We read from the book Heavenly
Secrets:
“As regards, in
general, the life of
souls, that is, of people who have recently died and become spirits,
much
experience has made it clear to me that when a person enters the next
life he
is not aware of being in that life. He imagines that he is still within
his
physical body, insomuch that when he is told he is a spirit he is
absolutely
dumbfounded. He is dumbfounded because, for one thing, he is still in
every way
a man as regards sensations, desires, and thoughts, and for another, he
did not
during his lifetime believe in the existence of the spirit, or as is
the case
with some, that the spirit could possibly be such as his experience now
proves.” (AC 320)
This
teaching, and the many others like it,
is very comforting for those of us who are thinking about someone who
has
passed away from this world. We wonder how they’re doing. We
wonder what
they’re doing. We wonder if they are happy and being well looked
after. And the
surprising teaching is that they are so much at home that while they
are being
introduced to spiritual life, they have to be reminded from time to
time that
they are no longer in the natural world.
So when
we wonder how our friend Fred Woodall
is doing, we can remember this teaching and know that he is well, being
looked
after, and in ever increasing health, vigour, and clarity of mind as he
is
gently brought into the life of the spirit.
Fred
Woodall was born August 27, 1921 in Toronto
to Margaret (Pogue) and William Woodall and spent his early years in
the Mimico
region of south-west Toronto.
However,
as the Great Depression hit, the
family had to follow the work and he lived in many different places and
went to
many different elementary schools. These circumstances prevented him
from attending
high school.
During
his last year at school the family
was back in Toronto and they rented a summer cottage right on the
shores of
Lake Ontario. The house was not winterized so Fred’s bedroom on
the second
floor could be quite cold. Fred collected wooden orange crates and used
the
pieces to line the walls of his bedroom, to provide insulation and cut
down on
the draughts. It was also Fred’s job to collect all the firewood
he could find.
In spite
of the challenges of the times,
living out from town, right on the sandy beach of Lake Ontario was a
great
experience for a boy. He learned to love the outdoors, sail boats, and
canoes.
He also made many wonderful friends while messing about with his boats,
such as
Clare and Laura Johnson.
When
Fred was 17 his father told him that
he’d better get a trade, because if he had a trade he’d
always have a job. So
Fred spent the next 5 years learning how to make patterns from Potts
Pattern
works and being paid $3 a week. It later went to $5 a week and he gave
all but
$1 to his parents.
The hard
times and the long hours didn’t
prevent him from having a good time, though. His mother sewed sails,
and he and
his friends would rig the sails on various boats - including a canoe -
and have
fun trying to sail them.
He
became a skilled tradesman, a pattern
maker working for various jobbing factories, such as Guerney’s.
To be a pattern
maker requires the skill of a fine cabinet maker to make the wooden
patterns,
but it also requires a knowledge of metallurgy so that the finished
piece comes
out of the mold cleanly, and the right size because the molten metal
shrinks as
it cools.
When
World War II came along he, loving
boats the way he did, joined the Navy and served in Halifax. At the end
of the
war he was honourably discharged and went to work at American Standard
as their
main pattern maker. Back in Toronto, he also went back to sailing,
joining the
Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club (TS&CC) where he served as
Commodore,
served on the executive, and sailed a Lightning class sailboat in the
regattas.
I’d like to think that Lorna was the love of his life, but it
sounds like that
boat was a close second.
The club
was an important part of Fred’s
life in another way. He met Lorna on a blind date arranged by Marmee
and George
Webb at the New Year’s Eve party at the club – and they
were married 6 months
later in this very church, 49 years ago.
Fred
spent the last 23 of his 50 years as a
pattern maker at the TTC. Fred and Lorna enjoyed 27 years of cottage
life in
“Rainbow Country” on Whitefish Lake south of Parry Sound.
They both loved the
outdoors, and they loved working on the cottage, making it their own
with the
skill of their own hands. When Fred finally retired from the TTC, they
spent 5
straight months at the cottage.
A
skilled woodworker, he made gifts out of
wood, and helped build boats. A man who worked skilfully with his
hands, not
only at work, but to help his friends with their boats, and - for
example -
built wooden shelves for Olivet Church.
Another
teaching about the life of heaven
tells us that:
“…there
are in heaven more functions and
services and occupations than can be enumerated. In this world there
are few in
comparison. But however many there may be who are so employed, they are
all in
the delight of their work and labour from a love of use, and no one
from a love
of self or of gain (Heaven and Hell
393:3).
There is
indeed a place in heaven for those
who work diligently and skilfully.
Lorna
recalls that after spending most of
his last day with Fred in the hospital, she finally went home and went
to bed.
About the time of his passing, she awakened to a wonderful, relaxed,
floating
sensation, and a powerful sense of peace. She turned on the radio
beside her
bed and heard lovely choral music, which brought to mind heavenly
choirs
welcoming Fred to his new home.
She
said, “it sounds strange to call it
‘beautiful’ until you’ve experienced it
yourself.”
The Lord
rose on Easter Sunday to teach us
that there was nothing to fear from death, that He has power over it.
He has
taught us all in many ways that life continues when the body dies, and
that
heavenly life is filled with useful activities, conversations with
friends, and
a happy life with family.
We’ll
close with one last reading from the
work Marriage Love
“…a person has common sense, and this is one with that influx from heaven into the interiors of his mind from which, inwardly in himself, he perceives truths and sees them, as it were; and especially this truth, that he lives as a person after death, happy if he has lived well, unhappy if he has lived ill; for who does not think this, when he elevates his mind a little above the thought next to his senses? As is the case when he is inwardly in Divine worship, and when he lies upon his bed about to die and awaits the end; likewise when he hears about the deceased and their lot. …every one perceives within himself that he lives as a person after death. What man who has loved his wife and his infants and children, if in thought he is elevated above the sensual things of the body, does not say within himself when they are dying or have died, that they are in God’s hand, and that he will see them again after his own death, and will again be conjoined with them in a life of love and joy!” (Marriage Love 28). Amen.
(Psa 23)
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
{2} He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside
the still waters. {3} He restores my
soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s
sake. {4} Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me. {5} You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with
oil; My
cup runs over. {6} Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in
the
house of the LORD Forever.
(Psa 84)
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! {2} My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of
the LORD; My
heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. {3} Even
the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for
herself, Where she may lay her young; Even
Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. {4} Blessed
are those
who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah {5} Blessed is the man whose strength
is in
You, Whose heart is set on
pilgrimage. {6} As they pass through
the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with
pools. {7} They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. {8} O
LORD God of hosts, hear my
prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
{9} O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your
anointed. {10} For a day in Your courts is
better than a thousand. I would
rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents
of
wickedness. {11} For the LORD God is a
sun and shield; The LORD will give
grace and glory; No good thing will
He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
{12} O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the
man who trusts in You!
Luke
10:25-28 “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him,
saying,
‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said
to him, ‘What is
written in the law? What is your reading of it?’ So he answered
and said, ‘You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all
your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as
yourself.’ And He
said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will
live.’
Luke
12:32-34 “Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father’s
good pleasure to
give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide
yourselves
money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does
not fail,
where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where you treasure is,
there
your heart will be also.” Amen.
HH
393:3 “…there are in heaven more functions and services
and occupations than
can be enumerated. In this world there are few in comparison. But
however many
there may be who are so employed, they are all in the delight of their
work and
labour from a love of use, and no one from a love of self or of gain;
and as
all the necessaries of life are furnished them gratuitously they have
no love
of gain for the sake of a living. They are housed gratuitously, clothed
gratuitously, and fed gratuitously.”
AC
8478:3, 4 “[They who trust in the Divine] have care for the
morrow, still have
it not, because they do not think of the morrow with solicitude, still
less
with anxiety. Unruffled is their spirit whether they obtain the objects
of
their desire, or not; and they do not grieve over the loss of them,
being
content with their lot. If they become rich, they do not set their
hearts on
riches; if they are raised to honours, they do not regard themselves as
more
worthy than others; if they become poor, they are not made sad; if
their
circumstances are mean, they are not dejected. They know that for those
who
trust in the Divine all things advance toward a happy state to
eternity, and
that whatever befalls them in time is still conducive thereto. [4] Be
it known
that the Divine Providence is universal, that is, in things the most
minute;
and that they who are in the stream of Providence are all the time
carried
along toward everything that is happy, whatever many be the appearance
of the
means; and that those are in the stream of Providence who put their
trust in
the Divine and attribute all things to Him.... Be it know also that in
so far
as any one is in the stream of Providence, so far he is in a state of
peace;
also that in so far as any one is in a state of peace from the good of
faith,
so far he is in the Divine Providence.”