Tuesday night’s 60-minute memorial service for Sabrina Ray was a solemn affair of hymns, prayers and pious platitudes offered up before the mystery of innocent and unjustifiable suffering.
About a dozen members of the Perry Firefighters Association attended the memorial service in dress uniform. The firefighters’ group voted last week at their meeting to donate to Sabrina Ray a grave and the cost of a grave opening at Violet Hill Cemetery.
The Rev. Marcy Campbell of the First Presbyterian Church in Perry greeted the more than 200 people attending the service, and the Rev. Jeremy Winter of the Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church offered an opening prayer and a Bible reading from the book of Psalms.
The Rev. Sherri Hughes-Empke of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Perry delivered Bible readings from the books of Lamentations, 1 Peter and the gospel of John.
The Rev. Paul Burrow of the First United Methodist Church in Perry and the Rev. Andrea Brownlee of the First Christian Church delivered messages.
“Let’s make two things very clear,” said Burrow. “This was not the will of God, and God did not need another angel. This was a tragedy. God is weeping along with us this evening. God did not want this to happen, and this is a tragic event.”
Burrow exhorted everyone to get involved in child welfare and to “pressure our state and federal officials to look out for our children. If there are children falling through the cracks, then we need to get out the mortar, and we need to fill those cracks.”
Burrow also encouraged his listeners to be alert and aware of what is happening in the community.
“Surely someone knew what was happening to Sabrina,” he said. “Surely someone had to have noticed this girl who was literally being starved to death. Friends, neighbors, community members, we need to be brave. We need to be brave for Sabrina. We need to get involved to the best of our ability. We need to insure that such things do not happen again.”
Brownlee spoke about the mystery of shared suffering.
“We here in the community of Perry are not strangers to heartbreak in our own lives or in the life of the community,” she said, “and we know that, unfortunately, Sabrina’s loss will not be the last heartbreak we endure together. But when tragedy happens, we know that we can work together. We know that we can come together to bear the weight of our grief, of our guilt, of our anger, of our pain, of our sorrow, amidst questions of how? or why? or what could have been done?”
Brownlee said she believed God was with Sabrina Ray even if we cannot understand what possible purpose her suffering served in the world.
“We struggle to find the answers that satisfy us,” she said. “But there are no answers. Some of us might be wondering, Where was God while this was happening? And in light of the scripture and of conversations in the last few weeks, I believe in a God who was with Sabrina, holding her close even if she was unaware of his presence.”
The Rev. Lou Hoger of the Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church delivered a final prayer, noting the different ways people try to understand Sabrina’s suffering.
“Lord, there are some who believe that her death must divinely, though not understood, be a part of your plan for her life, as you would have a plan for all persons,” said Hoger. “There are others who as strongly believe that Sabrina’s death was solely a result of evil and neglect and was in all ways counter to your will and your desires for Sabrina for a full and vigorous life. Yet there are others who believe that this is one more proof that you do not exist, for such a death negates their understanding of a loving God.”
Hoger pointed at length to the mystery at the heart of things.
“In all humbleness, we acknowledge we cannot fathom all earthly and divine mysteries, and must turn all thoughts and emotions over to you for healing and comfort, for hope and for peace.”
Cake, cookies and iced tea, donated by Perry’s Fareway and Hy-Vee, were served after the service by the Prairie Girls, Jacqueline Riekena, Pat Snyder and Sandy Grubbs.
Thank you, Jim. What a nice article. Too bad we had to have a gathering at all. As I was reading, “The Voice” was on with a contestant singing, “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. How appropriate that song is to Sabrina’s tragic end here on earth.