My dear Friends.

I write this letter just a few hours after conducting the Funeral Service for Thomas Barnes. All of us at the 9.30a.m. Service at St. Andrews will remember Tommy if only because of his singing! Tommy never remembered the words of any hymn but he enthusiastically took part in the best tradition of Psalm 100 which states
'Make a joyful noise to the Lord'! or as one modern translation puts it, 'Shout to the Lord'!

Over the years different verses in the Bible have reminded me of different people I have known. For example Psalm 118 v24 reads:
'This is the day which the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it'.

At the Bible Class I attended for over 10 years before I went to Theological College, our pianist would jump up from his stool and quote this verse if we began a hymn or song of praise in a mumbling sort of way. When I read Psalm 118 I always think of Mr. Windebank. In future whenever I read Psalm 100 I will remember Tommy!

Another thing I shall remember about Tommy was the way he would fall asleep whilst in Church and not just during my sermons! Now we may not fall asleep but the challenge is to keep alert. In fact worship, whilst so enjoyable, is also hard work, for there is so much that can distract us from the matter in hand.

Usually when I am asked to conduct a Funeral Service, the family are able to provide me with details about their loved one from birth onwards. In Tommy's case no such details were available. But what Tommy lacked in family life over the years made his time at Maplin House all the more special. He called all the staff either Mum or Dad and he lived there with friends he had made in what is very much a family atmosphere. He also became a dear brother to us in the family of the Church. We will all miss him and there is a challenge to us all to make our churches very welcoming and our friendship and fellowship such that people do find the Church to be like a family.

Finally in my funeral talk I quoted from Matthew 18 v l - 14 when in response to the disciples wanting to know who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus placed a child in their midst. Like the disciples of old we need the humbling and childlike trust that Jesus highlighted that day. With Tommy, if Jesus promises to be with him (and, of course, Jesus does) then that was good enough for Tommy and he believed and lived accordingly. I believe he came as a real challenge to us all in his childlike trust in the Lord. Sadly we so. often do not take God at his word and we miss Out on the presence and power of God in our daily lives.

The vast majority of us will have our moments in life when the spotlight is on us - we may have won a race, scored a century, done really well in exams, gained promotion, got married etc. etc. That has probably not been the case with Tommy. Instead it seemed right to focus the spotlight on him in death for I believe men and women like Tommy come as a real challenge and a wonderful example to us in our Christian lives. So thank you Tommy for being part of our lives.

God bless you
Yours sincerely

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