Reflections on Dr. Gary Hodges
Robert L. Randall
Funeral Service
September 4, 2005


Let me tell you something about Gary that many of you already know. He could fly. He didn’t need an airplane. He could fly with his imagination, with his mind. He was a spirit flyer, and he could fly high.

He flew with his humor. He started almost every sermon with a funny story.
There were also times during sermons when he would tell a humorous story about Linda or one of his family members where you didn’t know if it was true or not until you saw the twinkle in his eye and his last comment was definitely over the top.

Gary flew with his creativity. He put ideas and concepts together in sermons that expanded our understanding and were sometimes startling. He put vocal twists on songs he sang or piano pieces he played that made you hear in a new way.

Gary flew with his enthusiasm for what groups could do and for what churches could do. He would have already been thinking about how to mobilize the church or Rotary for relief to the victims of Katrina. He expected great things from communities and helped infuse them not only with practicality but with vitality. I remember the first time I met Gary when the search committee here at church was interviewing him. Half way through the meeting he suddenly said, with great vigor: “Everyone who loved God and loves his church, stand up! Stand up!” And those of us who were use to sitting still and not moving, slowly shook ourselves free and with a smile on our faces stood up and began to hope again. Gary’s flying helped us fly, helped our spirits rise again.

Gary flew with his deep love for God and his passionate belief in the promises of Jesus. He soared when he proclaimed the gospel. His voice and body become even more animated when he was filled with the spirit of God’s love for us all. He could not keep himself in the pulpit when this happened; he was drawn to come closer to those who listened, even down the center aisle, as if the very energy of his body could somehow also be the means for people coming alive to the reality he experienced of God’s goodness.

But there’s something else about Gary’s flying that only a few people like his family and friends know. Gary had to work at flying. He had to work to keep himself up and to keep himself spiritually hopeful. For him it was not simply “Up, up and away!” It was “Up, up with a wing and a prayer.”

He relied on the wings of his earthly angels, his family. Their love for him filled him, gave him buoyancy, lifted his spirit. Being surrounded by his family was the source of his greatest joy, and the source of his ability to keep going when things were tough.

He relied on the wings of his angel friends as well. A good word from those he respected and felt close to re-invigorated him. An affirming word from someone’s mouth to his ear was like spirit to spirit resuscitation; it renewed his strength and gave him a second breath.

In addition to a wing, Gary also flew with a prayer. He knew he could keep himself up only by being in communion with God. He relied upon a God who he knew listened, and understood, and responded. He looked for signs of God’s grace and presence, and tried to discern how God was nudging him and others in helpful directions.


During the last few years Gary began to know quite personally how the flight of life could suddenly end. Among other things he survived being hit by another car, and he miraculously survived a threatening blood clot. He knew that for him, just like for all of us, we are just a step and a half from disaster of some type.

· It is by the grace of God that we are able to go through much of life with
an almost naïve feeling that nothing really bad will happen to us.

· It is by the grace of God that when real tragedies do happen, we are able
to say how thankful we are to be alive, thankful for who we have with us and what we have left.

· It is by the grace of God that when our spirit hits the ground, and the
flight of life feels painfully over, that slowly, very slowly, a faint gathering wind caresses our wounds and gently beckons us to lift our head.

We give thanks for Gary’s life and the flight path it took. We are thankful for his spirit and the lessons he has taught us. We are thankful for the reminder that what is most important in life is not what we own or where we’
ve traveled or who we know, but rather who we have beside us.

Amen