A Christian Example
Call me weird but I have had a thing about gravestones and memorials- as a youngster I would walk around churchyards and memorials fascinated and often quite moved by the people who have been honoured. I don’t think it is morbid mainly because the memorials were inscribed to be read so we can commemorate their memory.
Anyway, I was in Christchurch, Dorset and whilst I was there I attended one of 'Talking Pictures TV's' (TPTV) regular Film Festivals (TPTV for those who have not heard of them, is the UK's most watched independent TV channel, and they focus on TV and film from the 1930s to 1980s or so-a great watch). I digress but whilst I was there I visited Christchurch Priory, in Dorset, an 11th century building that goes back to the time of Edward the Confessor. There are many such memorials within the setting, but one sculpture that really stands out is the one to Harriet Harris who in 1815 at the tender age of just 32 died.
Her memorial as you can see above is of her tenderly cradling one of her children on her lap, her head resting gently on his while her two older boys, their arms around each other, are at her knees, tenderly reaching out to her.
We know little of her life, but the elegant prose inscribed in her honour tell us an awful lot:
‘Gifted by nature with uncommon beauty of person and countenance, possessing manners equally dignified and engaging, she never allowed herself to be influenced by the flatteries and allurements of the world. She enjoyed with rational cheerfulness those hours which she could spare from the performance of her domestic duties. So deeply impressed with the feelings and confidence of a true Christian was this pious and excellent woman: so fully prepared was she at all times for another world, that the sudden and unexpected approach of death could not disturb the sweet serenity of her mind, nor did one repining word escape her through 14 days of acute suffering, she calmly gave up her soul into the hands of the Creator, quitting all she loved with these words: “I have had my full share of happiness in this world”’.
What an example of the way to live your life and more importantly ‘to go into that dark night’ not as poet Dylan Thomas suggested “ rage, rage against the dying of the light”, but to gracefully and serenely go on one last adventure of this world and into the waiting hands of God.
As I say, we know little about Harriet Harris, but she sounds to have been a remarkable woman and a true Christian. What an example for us to follow....
Tags: Talking Pictures TV, Christchurch Priory, Edward the Confessor, Harriet Harris, Dylan Thomas