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"A Ceremony of Remembrance"- Sunday October 27, 2002
Please join me in what I hope will become an annual tradition of rememberance of and for all the friends associated with Little Beach past and present.
On our way out this morning I have asked the captain to stop briefly off Little Beach. The purpose is to place the ashes of my friend Paul Penhallow (Robert A. Holm 1935-1996) in the ocean.
It occurred to me that others might want to take a moment and remember someone and symbolically place their ashes off Little Beach. I have brought a small crucible. My idea is this. On the bottom of this sheet of paper write the name or names of the one whom you wish to remember. At the appropriate time place the paper (small torn off piece not whole sheet) in the crucible. You may say the name to the group participating and make some statement about the individual. Or you may simply add the piece of paper to the crucible.
When everyone has added their slip of paper to the crucible I will ignite the papers. When the paper has been reduced to ash I will add water and pour the contents into the sea.
Perhaps we can read the following poem together as the ashes mingle
with the water. The poem is from some pagan friends of mind that will be
holding a Ceremony of Remembrance at the Four Quarters Farm in Pennsylvania.
Those who are dead are never gone,
they are there in the thickening shadow.
The dead are not under the earth,
they are in the tree that rustles,
they are in the woods that groan,
they are in the water that sleeps,
they are in
the hut, they are in the crowd.
The dead are not dead.
Those who are dead are never gone,
they are in the breast of the woman,
they are in the child who is wailing,
and in the firebrand that flames.
The dead are not under the earth,
they are in the fire that is dying,
they are in the grasses that weep,
they are in the standing stones,
they are in the forest,
they are in the house.
The dead are not dead.
Paul Penhallow (Robert A. Holm 1935-1996)
I last saw Paul Penhallow in Florida in February of 1996 while at Cypress Cove Resort. I was planning on attending a naturist gathering further south. My truck broke a valve while at Cypress Cove and I was forced to stay there until it was repaired.
Paul offered to take me to the conference. He was experiencing a slight cough at the time which neither of us thought of any significance. Thinking my truck would be ready in time I declined his invitation.
In April hospital blood work indicated that Paul had “Acute Leukemia” with three to nine weeks to live.
Perhaps Paul could have prolonged his life with chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants, instead he sought to face death directly and meet it on his own terms. He moved in with our mutual friend Marilyn Lovell who was residing at Avalon Nudist Resort in West Virginia. He died there on May 21, 1996.
Marilyn Lovell attributes the following words to Paul as to how we should remember him:
“In some quiet spot, at some quiet time, you might light a candle and think a while of me as you knew me while I lived. Extinguish the candle, and think for a bit of me as you know me now. Relight the candle, and go on with Your Living.”
In this Ceremony of Remembrance let us take a moment to remember our friends and loved ones as they were. Then remember them as they are now. And then get on with living and enjoying another beautiful day in paradise with all of our friends from Little Beach.
Aloha Dr. L
October 27, 2002
Editor's Note: The ashes of Paul Penhallow and the ashes symbolic of
those who died on September 11, 2001 and others reside off Little Beach
at Makena, Maui.The energy and magic of the moment attracted Hump backed
whales and spinner dolphins to the area near the boat. Maui is a mystical
place. P.Jones.
