Thursday’s Perspective
May 3, 2023 - Military Burial Ceremony, Captain/Chief Warrant Officer 2, Ryan Jeffery Holmes - United States Army
I laid Ryan down in his final bed of peace. In that place from where he came to me. From dust to dust he goes, it is because all flesh is earthy, dusty, a container of the roots of living things. A place where the sounds are organic. Nothing artificially made or mechanically engineered to work man’s way. Nothing from man’s creative energy arises out of this place. It may seem dark, damp, cold. Maybe Ryan sees it as a place of sublime beauty, where pure rivers flow to water life above from beneath. A place that nourishes upward from itself to where life above tramples on its head. Where below it shoulders the living and the not living, as we think we know the living.
For a time Ryan will not be disturbed by the crush of time, the demands of responsibilities, deadlines, performance, evaluations, examinations. Ryan is free from expectations of being “the man”, the one who always comes through. His tired shoulders can relax and not carry loads like sacks of concrete. Ryan simply does not have to answer questions he has no answers to. He shut down his mind because the capacity was full. His storage was overloaded and about to burst. Ryan stopped the burgeoning ballon from bursting and swamping his world. He took the darts. The arrows. The pain. The cause. The battery. The broken hallelujah. He landed on his sword so we wouldn’t have to. For Ryan, the buck stopped with him.
Like fog rising off a warm lake, I will watch you rise, Ryan, until your peacefulness in your peaceful place doesn’t hurt anymore. I love you forever.
Mom
Your words captured perfectly the acceptance of the earth place of rest for our son. He rests now…but resurrection day is coming…and we will all stand before the Lord. To be recognized by the Lord as a faithful servant will be our highest honor. Ryan has led the way to a place we all will go.
I am proud of the life he lived…and thankful that he is my son…alive and well in Christ.
Rest in peace until we meet again 💕
My heart is broken for you my precious friend.