Maryangel Brown Memorial Gathering

so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] bye [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] you [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] um [Music] um [Music] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] and [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] is in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth amen we gather here today in this place and via the internet in a lot of places we gather in god's presence to remember and to give thanks for the life of mary angel we gather to affirm god's love for us and to support each other in this time of great need you are welcome here if you knew mary angel really well and you are welcome here if you never met her you are welcome here if you share her faith in jesus christ or if you have a different faith or no faith at all together all of us are here to acknowledge our grief because of mary angel's death and to give witness to how deeply she was loved in her life we are here to stand with confidence in the hope of the resurrection through jesus christ our lord we're going to begin with a prayer from dr emily helder i welcome you emily i'm grateful to be here with you today mary angel was a beloved student of mine and even after she graduated worked with me on my research so she was very dear to me too so pray with me god we open the service acknowledging your presence in our midst nothing is hidden from you o lord you know each and every person who has gathered at the service today both here and those joining us remotely let your spirit move in our midst to bring comfort and peace the god who sees we thank you for the life of mary angel you formed her you knew her and you walked alongside her every day of her life and we cling tightly to your promise that she is now in your presence it is so painful to gather in her absence and also in the midst of this pain we are profoundly grateful for her presence in our lives she lived with deep joy beauty truth and purpose it's because of the way she lived her life that we feel her physical absence so strongly you used our relationships with mary angel to bless us challenge us teach us and help us grow and we are here because we love her and miss her and want to cherish our memories of her we want to honor her life and support one another as we grieve her passing may the love of god and the peace of the lord jesus christ bless and console us and gently wipe every tear from our eyes in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen i'll be reading from psalm 139 you have searched me lord and you know me you know when i sit and when i rise you perceive my thoughts from afar you discern my going out and my lying down you are familiar with all my ways before a word is on my tongue you lord know it completely you hem me in behind and before and you lay your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me too lofty for me to attain where can i go from your spirit where can i flee from your presence if i go up to the heavens you are there if i make my bed in the depths you are there if i rise on the wings of the dawn if i settle on the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me your right hand will hold me fast if i say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me even the darkness will not be dark to you the night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you for you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother's womb i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made your works are wonderful i know that full well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in the secret place when i was woven together in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed body all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be how precious to me are your thoughts god how vast is the sum of them were i to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand when i awake i am still with you many of us have a lot of memories and stories that we could uh share here and so several people have volunteered to come and share those so that we can collectively hear those remember mary angel so i'd like to invite luke up first to share a bit all right my name is luke burroughs and i've been fortunate enough to experience life with marine child for the past two and a half years today i'd like to share that story because she lived a life worth celebrating it all started in the fall of junior year at calvin college my friends sam nate aunjan and i had made the leap from the dorms on campus to the only slightly farther away ke apartments as fate would have it mary angel had made an even bigger leap transferring schools from chafee college in los angeles california all the way to calvin in the same ke apartment complex we occasionally bumped into her and her roommates heidi noel and emily but it wasn't until the boredom of january a term hit deep in the michigan winter with nothing to do that our friendship blossomed heidi would drag miranda with her and ask our apartment if we wanted to play pool have lunch anything at all we are naively accepted not knowing that this would cause our apartments to fuse becoming a full-blown friend group now miranda played no small part in this during that spring semester she got us all to study together put pennies in our shoes to prank us and convinced me somehow to join the water polo team with her but more importantly she was a glue that bound us together while anjin and heidi suggested crazy adventures my angel was a constant light that cared deeply about each one of us you could count on her to always laugh at our jokes be there at 3am when you needed someone to talk to or keep you company when you finished an essay that should have been done days ago she supported us through that semester and eventually we all split for summer break with her going across the country back to california i stayed in michigan doing research in the chemistry department but life just wasn't the same without her so i thought about it and made the logical decision to drive to california to see her i picked up nate along the way in colorado and after many hours we made it to sunny california her family was generous enough to let us stay with them for a week and i got to see my angel in her element showing us around la hollywood and the ocean all with a smile that matched the brilliant sun we then drove back to michigan and shortly after rider school was starting i just had to ask her on a date we quickly became a couple and began doing couple things like calvin walks doing sudokus together and going on adventures when we should have been studying my normal steadfast rational self would break down around her and i would desperately try to get her to smile just one more time she was able to find time for me and all the people she cared about while juggling a lot that fall semester hosting latin american student association events leading the water polo team being a spanish communication group leader and working at red project to provide health resources to the community her focus wasn't grades money or success it was about understanding other people and helping them that's why she majored in psychology and public health she was able to empathize with people and put them before herself the next semester she participated in the rangila dance and began teaching english to immigrants before culpit kind of shut everything down we were able to meet up when graduation should have happened for a couple weeks but the joy of that moment couldn't last forever and then we were apart again being away from everyone was hard for her being stuck in california unable to see friends and people in general however things did get better and she was able to find a job in michigan doing behavioral therapy with kids that have autism it was emotionally draining work but she persevered and was a light to the family she touched there were a lot of ups and downs in the past year but she was always there for me for all the people in her life and put them before herself she was the one person i could 100 percent be myself around at any time and trust completely she would never judge you she taught us how to live and what really matters she went at her home pace and experienced the beauty in life just like the way she would swim effortlessly gliding through the water feeling the moment it's now up to us to continue that legacy i know for a fact that if she were here right now she would be comforting every single one of us wiping the tears from our eyes and giving the best kind of embrace she taught us all so much and i know for a fact that i am a better person because of her all i can do is thank god that he sent a beautiful angel to live in our midst she lived to the fullest and was a bright presence in all whose life she touched thank you hello everyone my name is jocelyn and i was one of my angels friends and like luke i want to share some of my favorite memories with her for her 23rd birthday mary angel maddie and i got together to celebrate her and i remember before we got together we were texting her to ask her what she wanted to do to celebrate and she responded by saying it didn't matter what we did that she was just happy that she got to spend time with us that's who miranda was she always communicated her appreciation for her appreciation for us so for her birthday we ordered takeout and we went to meyer to buy a cake let me tell you this was an adventure getting this cake we were looking at all the plastic little toys that the kids put on their cakes and we were joking around and asking her to pick a toy so we could put on her cake and she ended up not finding a toy but she found a children's cake with a dragon on it and she absolutely loved it and was happy with it because that's what she was she found a sense of humor in anything and she found beauty in everything when mary angel and matty and i signed the lease to our house we were all excited to be together but when we moved in i had started to complain about some of the quirks of the house that i was noticing about how the carpet smelled and how the floor was crooked and i had vented to my angel to let her know that i did not like some of the things about the house and her response to that was that yeah the house is funky but she didn't mind she was just happy to live with us and to know that together we would make that house a home my angel never lost touch with the true reason behind getting that house which was to live together into being community she wasn't a materialistic person at all she didn't care about the quirks of the house she didn't care about the cake she genuinely cared about being in the presence of her loved ones and she reminded us how to admire the two treasures of life the treasures of human connection and pure love she was a selfless caring and encouraging friend among many other great things and i'm beyond thankful for the time i had with her i want to invite professor yonker up here i'm professor julie yonker and i had the distinct honor of having mary angel in several of my classes as well as being her advisor here at calvin and if i were to sum up mary angel in one word which i think you've heard a little bit from jocelyn and luke i would say the word love mary angel loved so many things i think first and foremost she loved god that was clear that was evident that was part of who she was but she also loved her friends she loved her family she loved this world she loved what she got to do in this world she was just a loving ray of sunshine every time i saw her every time she walked in the room she made us all feel so joyful and so loved and i'd like to take a little bit of time to remember who many of us in the psychology department understood mary angel to be how god had created her but even though god had created her there was family that molded her and brought her up in a really remarkable way and you shared her with us you launched her from california to michigan and you allowed her to be part of our lives here and for that we are deeply grateful mary angel loved learning what i always remember about her was the remarkable questions that she would ask she was so curious so inquisitive and you could tell by the way she formed her questions that she was thinking deeply and she was really had this innate desire to know and to learn and to improve and i would imagine that growing up you as her parents probably encouraged her to ask questions when she was a toddler she probably asked why why why and you didn't shut that down you allowed her to ask questions to understand and you fostered that you grew that and we as a community were all so thankful to benefit from her curiosity and her love of learning mary angel was also very very optimistic i would just say she like jocelyn said she could just turn the most challenging thing into something where she would find the silver lining or the optimistic part of that she had this joy that came deep from within she had this happiness that was not dependent on the circumstances or the situation what was dependent on how god had made her her love of god and the joy that she took in this world and in this life and i would imagine that as her family you worked with her with that right that doesn't just come automatically you encouraged that you allowed her to see not the negative side the pessimistic side of life but really the beautiful side of life the other thing that mary angel was very strong in were her values she most of all valued her faith that was most important and that was clear all the time that was just ingrained in her but she also valued her friends i could see when she would talk to me about her friends or when i would observe her in her friend groups oh she eyes would light up and she was so involved and valued her friends but it wasn't just her friends that she valued it was all people like we heard from luke and jocelyn she had this empathy for others she definitely would be here drying our tears and giving us that comfort because she really valued all of god's children all of god's children no matter who they were or what they were and i would imagine from her family that you raised her in a strong christian home and that you taught her these values you encouraged these values you allowed her to grow and thrive in these values that served her well and that helped us to to cherish our values as well the ones we shared with her especially and mary angel was also a really energetic encourager even myself right i'm the professor i'm not one who should be getting getting and having challenges in front of my students but she somehow sensed when i was having some challenges even though i didn't say it verbally and she would just come right in with that encouraging word i don't know where it came from how she sensed that but she did and she did that for so many of us she was an encourager so to marry angel's family i really want to say thank you for having the courage to encourage her to come to calvin to come and share her love that she learned from you and to share that with us and bless us you have definitely blessed us with a beautiful daughter and we will deeply miss her thank you [Music] so [Music] uh [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my name is kate coyman um and i never had the privilege of meeting mary angel i'm here because dr emily helder who loved mary angel asked me to come and offer a word of hope for you all you know i never got to meet mary angel but i did get to talk about her with a lot of you and i heard so many stories of what a delightful and kind and peace person mary angel was i heard the story of the cake and i heard the stories about shoveling the snow off the ke ice rink and but there was one story that i kept thinking about that rosie her mom told me as this serviced approach because i felt like it told me so much about who mary angel was it's an old story from when mary angel was really little and she shared a bedroom with her sister andrea and rosie her mom had glued those little glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling maybe some of you had that in your room when you were little and over time the glue on those stars had dried and it meant that those little stars fell down onto the floor and one day rosie went into her girl's room and little baby andrea was sleeping with her head on the pillow and all around her head were little stars she knew who did it so she went and found mary angel and she said did you put stars around your baby sister's head and she said yep i put them there so that if my sister woke up in the night she wouldn't be afraid because there would be light all around her i kept thinking about that story because every time one of you shared with me about mary angel you told me a story of how she was a light for you how she brought light to your life with her enthusiasm for dancing and her excitement when her song would come on the radio with her passion for loving people and writing the wrongs in the world with her kindness and the way that she listened to you i heard that so many times she listened so well her attentive presence her like amazing ability to enjoy the moment that she was in it seems like that taught a lot of you a lot about what it means to enjoy your life watching mary angel enjoy her life a lot of you told me that she really hated bugs which i think was so funny i don't know why it came up so many times that she loved chocolate chip cookies that she loved bright costumes that she loved new cultures that she loved mexico and her family there that she loved to dance mary angel it seems brought light to all of your lives i think she took stars and she put them around all of our heads we are gathered here today as people who loved her to proclaim that life that light that she brought to your lives into this world we pay attention to it we speak about it we bear witness to it it was real mary angel was light in this world and we gather here to tell that story and we gather here to tell another story of light it's maybe the only story that makes sense in a moment like this because a moment like this doesn't make sense there's no way to dress this up to make it okay there's only one story that we can tell in this moment it's a story that goes all the way back to the beginning here's how john's gospel begins that story it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god he was in the beginning with god all things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being what has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it there's no way to talk about this moment except that it's dark there's no way to look at all these young faces grieving too soon someone that you loved we can't make the death of mary angel less awful by pretending it's not so awful i can't make it meaningful or tidy or make it make sense it's just not the way it's supposed to be so we are not here to tell stories that make sense of the loss of mary angel or to make it tidy or pretty we're not here to pretend that the darkness isn't real but that does not leave us without hope we are here because we are people of hope we are here because we can tell the story of jesus the story of resurrection it is a story that shines a light even in this dark of a moment because it gives us a promise that death is not the end the light shines in the darkness and that is maybe the most fundamental confession that a christian can have the darkness shall not overcome it and so if you are confused today if you are angry if you are broken if you are grieving then let this be your protest let this be your defiance against the injustice that the lights that mary angel brought to us are no longer here let this be the way we stand in this darkness let this be how we declare that the darkness will not overcome that we don't deny the grief but we do tell a story that can bring a lasting hope the story of a god who loved mary angel and a god who loves us story of a god who came into this world and grieved and wept and died who didn't hide from pain but experienced it and does today and the story of a god who rose again who promises never to leave us of a god whose light can never be overcome mary angel brought light to our lives and we gather in great hope because we are a people who can tell the story that makes sense today the story of resurrection death is not the end a light shines in the darkness thanks be to god will you pray with me oh god our help in age is past we thank you for help we thank you for an empty tomb we thank you for the good news of heaven we thank you that because jesus lives mary angel also lives and that we can somehow face tomorrow god of comfort draw near to us now give us refuge and strength be our very present help in this time of such trouble help us to somehow stand on your promises in spite of this overwhelming sadness help us to see with eternal eyes give us the peace that passes understanding remind us oh faithful god that even as much as we loved mary angel it pales in comparison to how you love mary angel and for this we give you thanks the whole company of heaven is with you today in glory and that includes mary angel bring us to o lord to join that faithful cloud of witnesses help us to rest in the blessed assurance that we will someday see mary angel again and even more that we will join her in seeing the face of christ we pray now together as jesus taught us saying our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen friends of mary angel friends of jesus christ receive this blessing may the lord bless you and keep you may he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you may he turn his face toward you and smile on you and give you his peace amen you may go in peace [Music] that is going to be in the lower level of this building there are stairs out the back and an elevator this way thanks [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] hmm [Music] you

Channel: Calvin University

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Id: x7sIX_0W810

Length: 57min 58sec (3478 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021