吳可亭（Lauren Ng）主講 鄒琪萱 翻譯

　Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. I am honored and humbled to be standing here before all of you─a gathering of family and friends who share a common love for my grandmother Evelyn, or as my generation called her, PoPo.

　A couple of weeks before my PoPo passed on, she and I spoke on the phone. She wanted to know if I was familiar with the story of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. For those of you who are unfamiliar, hear the words of God as they are written in the book of II Kings 2:1-14. It's a glorious passage, this story of Elijah and Elisha. And you see, after PoPo and I recalled the story to one another over the phone, she told me that she wanted me to understand that she, like Elijah, was passing the mantle. She asked me if I understood and I said yes. But after I hung up on the phone, and in the days to follow, I reflected some more on what it meant for her to pass the mantle.

　I looked through the Scriptures and learned that a mantle is a piece of clothing, a sort of robe or cloak that was a symbol of a prophet's power. Elijah wore this mantle and used it to part the waters of the Jordan before he ascended to heaven in a whirlwind. His mantle was then passed on to Elisha. I reflected on the mantle PoPo said she was passing on. What was this mantle that she wore?

　I've come to realize that the mantle she wore was beautifully complex. It was a mantle that symbolized her identity as a writer. It was a mantle that symbolized her identity as a preacher, as a friend, as a mother, as a grandmother, as a great grandmother, as a servant of God. It was a mantle of many different colors and weaves and it reflected the many roles she played in all of our lives. As her granddaughter, what is closest to my heart is who my PoPo was to our family. And so I asked some of them to think about the mantle she wore and this is what they said:

To my mother she wore a mantle of encouragement
To my uncle Ernest she wore a mantle of patience
To my uncle Frank a mantle of acceptance
To my aunt Gloria a mantle of fearless faith
To me, she wore a mantle of steadfast faith.

　Now Elisha knew Elijah was going to be taken away from him. The prophets in each town had said so. Yet despite the inevitable loss he was to endure, Elisha continued on beside him. "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live,"he said to Elijah,"I will not leave you."When Elijah was finally taken up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elisha kept his eyes on him as long as he could. He squinted to see his master as a chariot and horses of fire filled the air between them. He desperately watched and cried out, "Father, father!"And when Elijah had ascended so high that Elisha could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes in despair and tore them to pieces.

　I─and I'm sure most of you─have felt like Elisha in recent days. I knew my PoPo was going to be taken away from me. The doctors and nurses had said so. Yet despite the inevitable loss we were to endure, we continued on beside her. We said to her, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, we will not leave you."And on Thursday, February 19th, when she was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind of God's glory and mercy, we fell to the ground, grieving, our clothes torn to pieces.

　But this is not how the story ends. For after Elisha tore his clothes in grief, he picked up Elijah's mantle that had been passed to him, struck the waters of the Jordan, and crossed over it. His clothes had been ripped apart by sorrow, but he soon donned new clothes─the mantle of his master whom he loved and honored. We, as people who love and honor Evelyn, who have shed our clothing of grief and sorrow, must now reach for the mantle she has passed to us--a mantle of encouragement, patience, acceptance, fearless faith and steadfast faith. By wearing this mantle she has passed to us, we will continue to see her even as she has ascended to heaven in a whirlwind of God's glory and love. By continuing to see her, we inherit her spirit, and by inheriting her spirit we honor her life.

　I'd like to read you one last thing in closing. I have here a poem my PoPo wrote in 1955 at the age of 29. It is titled, "A Will."

　You see, she knew we would grieve like Elisha grieved. But she also asks that we "look forward as a swallow expecting a warmer land,"that we pick up the mantle she has passed us, strike the waters that toruble our path, and walk upon a new shore. Amen.

（by Mrs Lauren Ng, the granddaughter of Mrs. Evelyn O. Shih）