Eulogy for Mother - How do you Measure Greatness?

Ask me not how she died, rather ask me how she lived!

How do you measure greatness? People often confuse notoriety and fame with greatness, but I would say that the greatness of a person is measured by the compassion and love they show towards others-- in short-- charity. As the Bible says in Corinthians, “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have charity, I am nothing.”

It is all too easy to ignore the needs of those around us. But Mother did not. She taught us that as Christians, we are directed by God to love our neighbor. To use her words, “Love. Each. Other.”

Always one to lead by example, Mother took every opportunity to uplift others with her love. It did not matter if they were standing in a checkout line, sitting in a waiting room, or waiting for a bus. As Helen Keller wrote, “so long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain…. I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”

I’m sure her children all remember from our days on the farm the mountainous pile of clothing she would collect to give to charity. When she wasn’t busy raising 10 children, she volunteered her time at their schools, on a larger scale as PTA president, and at school events too numerous to count. After her retirement she volunteered at God’s Pantry, providing food, and more often than not, advice and encouragement to go with it. Even her purchases were often des...