Dear Ones,

Thank you. Thank you for all the understanding and compassion you’ve sent in your kind emails and lovely cards, following the death of our son, Toby Jace (TJ) Hlaban, on Dec. 4th. Your caring touches Tom and I deeply, and we’re grateful to be part of this congregation.

TJ’s memorial service will be held on Jan. 29, 2022 in Brookfield, Wisconsin, at the congregation I served before coming to Beaufort. He was an adult member there, and many knew and cared about him.

As often happens in sad times, I’m comforted by words from poet Wendell Berry, which seem fitting:

He goes free of the earth.
The sun of his last day sets
clear in the sweetness of his liberty.

The earth recovers from his dying,
the hallow of his life remaining
in all his death leaves.

Radiances know him. Grown lighter
than breath, he is set free
in our remembering. Grown brighter

than vision, he goes dark
into the life of the hill that
holds his peace.

He’s hidden among all that is,
and cannot be lost.

Take good care, everyone.

Blessings,
Rev. Lori Hlaban