III. THE CLOUD OF WITNESSES
All:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Leader:
That other generations might possess —
From shame and menace free in years to come —
A richer heritage of happiness,
He marched to that heroic martyrdom. Alan Seeger
Assembly:
One by one Death challenged them. One by one they smiled in his grim visage, and refused to be dismayed. They had been lost, but they had found the path that led them home ; and when at last they laid their lives at the feet of the Good Shepherd, what could they do but smile? Donald Hankey
Leader:
Lord, thou didst suffer more for me
Than all the hosts of land and sea.
So let me render back again
This millionth Of thy gift. Joyce Kilmer
Assembly:
Patriotism is not enough; I must have no hatred or bitterness toward any One. Edith Cavell (just before her execution)
All:
To you from falling hands we throw the torch - Be yours to hold it high;
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow, In Flanders Fields.John McCrae
IV. BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN
Hymn No. 182Hark, Hark, My Soul
Hark, hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling
O'er earth's green fields and ocean's wave-beat shore:
How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling
Of that new life when sin shall be no more !
Angels of Jesus, angels of light,
Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night! Amen.
Assembly:
I am the resurrection and the life ;
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,
Whosoever believeth in me shall never die.
Leader:
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
Neither shall there be any more pain.
Assembly:
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
All:
Be worthy of your noble dead,
So shall your hearts be comforted.
He is not lost who goes before
But standing in the Open Door,
He waits you there with outstretched hands,
Love's dearest, best ambassador.
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