Rest in peace, James Gandolfini

I LOVED the Sopranos.  And I am not talkin' hyperbole:  I LOVED the Sopranos.  I have watched it a few times over - and love everything about it - from the music and the wise guy humor to the ambiguity and moral critique of a society obsessed with control and violence gone sour, bad and blue.  No secret that I wept to see that James Gandolfini, the actor who played Tony Soprano, died today while vacationing in Italy at age 51.  As one writer already noted, "God I hope he was welcomed into the arms of God accompanied by some good pasta and wine."  Me, too.

When I was a pastor in Tucson, AZ there was a woman roughly my age who beat cancer three times - she was smart, sassy, sexy and sweet.  But cancer number four was too much for all involved.  So as she made her peace with dying, she and her husband would sometimes drive to San Diego so that she could sit by the beach and enjoy the sunset with him.  That's 6 hours one way - and who knows how many times they made that trek?  He once confided to me after her death, "Here's the thing, man, live every day you have with the ones you love as fully as possible because there is no going back.  Spend the money you need no matter what the interest rate on the credit cards because... when it is gone, it's gone."

They had a special love that changed my heart.  I flew back from SF to do her funeral while just starting my doctoral studies because I promised her I wouldn't leave the final prayers to some stranger.  And over 500 people filled our Sanctuary.  So I wept when I heard Tony Soprano was gone.  Then I put on the Sopranos theme song and prayed this prayer written by Fr. Ed Hays:

Blessed are you, Lord our God,
who is the keeper of the Book of Life.
Today I have learned of the death of James Gandolfini,
   and as this type of news always does
   it comes as a shock.
We know, Lord, that we all must die,
   and that you alone keep the dates of our death
   within your book of life,
   but we still share the shock of death.
That news carries with it the shadow of fear,
   for it is a reminder that, someday, I too shall die.
Today, then, I pray for James
   who passed through the doorway of death,
   and I pray for myself as well.

I remember in my prayer
   the members of the family
   who surely are lost in sorrow at this time.
Support them with your Holy Spirit
   and grant them the courage to embrace this tragic mystery
   as part of the plan of life.

Lord, may the news of this death
   be for me a holy message
   of how not to waste my todays,
   how not to be unprepared for the arrival of death
   in my own life.
May I best remember James
   by being grateful for life today
   and by loving you, my God,
   with all my heart, all my strength and all my mind.

Eternal rest to the dearly departed and divine consolation to the family.
Amen.