As you carry out your loved one’s wishes to be cremated and scattered at sea, you may wish to have a poem or verse read by close friends and family who attend the scattering.
You may want to start the ceremony with something like: “The ceremony at sea for our beloved Mother is the perfect place to set her free,
It comforts us to know that he is finally home among his loved ones.”
Then he would have each family member read the poem he has given them.
Some ideas are:
I won’t be alone
my comfort will come from the sea.
The stillness of the waves of clams will gently pass
I will be as one with the sea.
When the sun sets on the blue ocean,
Remember me as I will always remember you.
As the sun rises…go live life as full as possible
Apart… you and me… but a peace because I am free
_______________________
be consoled
My life ends here in peace with the sea.
The Lord has called me home and I am free.
to go in peace
Do not mourn my passing as I am now in the presence of the Glory of God,
His shining love is abundant and his promises are real.
I will wait for you here, dear ones, in the arms of Jesus and I will take care of you with him until you too come home.
Comfort yourselves beloved.
“I will go by the way of the open sea, To the Lands before you came, And the cool ocean breeze will blow from me, The memory of your name”
________________________
A parable of immortality
I am standing on the seashore.
A ship beside me unfurls its white sails to the morning breeze and sets off for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch until it finally hangs like a speck of white cloud.
Right where the sea and the sky come to mix.
Then someone says, “There he goes!”
gone where?
Gone from my sight, that’s all.
She is as big in mast, hull, and yard as she was when she left my side.
And just as capable of getting your load of live cargo to the destination.
Her tiny size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone next to me says: “There he goes”
There are other eyes watching her coming
and their voices ready to resume the cries of joy,
“Here she comes!”
By Henry Van Dyke
In closing, the dispersal at sea ceremony is all about saying goodbye and creating an everlasting memory of the release of your loved one. It is up to you to decide what will help you and those in attendance to better remember and celebrate that person’s life.