I remember that the Holcombe family path matched Charles and Pat's from time to time via our common assignments, and I admired their dedication to our community and the local church experiment, but I also remember working with Charles on common concerns for justice issues when he was serving as pastor of Grace UMC in Austin when we returned from the Philippines to Texas in the year 2000, and I accepted the job as the Peace with Justice Coordinator for the General Board of Church & Society UMC. I remember visiting and worshipping at Grace UMC and noticed how pleased Charles was that the church had been able to be a witness on many justice concerns. We shared common concerns and missional activities around the Death Penalty and Restorative Justice throughout Texas as well as other justice concerns as we each served in various capacities. I always believed that Charles was deeply rooted and passionate about his call to serve and chose to be part of the change he hoped for all people. When I first heard of Charles' death and his chose to "die his death", I recalled a time being in a seminar on the West Side of Chicago being led by Joe Pierce and he asked the question: "When is the last time you thought about committing suicide?". And as only Joe Pierce could bring off, he went around the room and we each answered. So much of our community's life story was about....how will you decide to die your death. I do not like the word "suicide"......What I prefer is "how will you die your death". My ancient meditative council, Rumi said it back in the 13th Century: It's you road and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you... I found Salvatore (aka Ray) Caruso's statement says it for me as well...Charles' final act of living appears to be an offering on B 1/2 of all... A protest around the foundational social issues of our time...He continues now in all of us..... Grace and Peace, Wanda Holcombe We are honored to attend Charles' Memorial service and stand as a group to give witness to our honoring of his life and share in printed form your words as well to the family. According to Rev. Renfro, Charles left behind his memorial service and within it was a list of those he would like to share a word at the service. The Ecumenical Institute was on that list. After the service we will share with all of you the outline of the service and who all stood together to represent EI. Also we will request of Pat and family if there is contact information that we can share with you as well in case anyone wants to communicate with them directly. On Jul 10, 2014, at 9:24 PM, George Holcombe via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Here’s an updated copy with a little format change. Folks keep sending more witnesses, so I’m sure this will not be the last one. Trying to get set to do final print Sat. morn. If you see anything, your witness missing, mistakes, etc. Let me know.
One person could not open the MSWord doc. If you have problems, I can also post it in Pages and Pdf.
Thanks.
George Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Tr. Austin TX 78728 Mobile 512/252-2756 grholcombe@gmail.com
"Whatever the problem, community is the answer. There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about." Margaret Wheatley
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