In Hillington Park Church on the 22nd November 2013, we had a thanksgiving service for Mai Hood who passed into glory on the 18th November. At the service, her daughter Deborah read the lessons for us and her sons Colin and Jim gave moving tributes about their mum. Her grandson David led us in prayer at the end of the service.
The tribute printed below is the words that were shared by her minister and friend Rev John MacGregor.
John said….Our reading from 1 Peter 1 v3-7 read by Deborah, brings us much comfort today…especially verse 3,4
“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or fade away.”
Words that speak of God`s mercy, of new life, of a living hope
Today friends we are naturally saddened by Mai`s passing. We are saddened by the suddenness of her departure. In the midst of life God called her to Himself. So we grieve her passing today.
But in the midst of our grief and pain today we share in Mai`s faith.
We have a Christian service today because we have something worthwhile to celebrate – something which Mai believed in and which she worked for – her belief and her joy in knowing the promise of eternal life.
This promise is grounded in the mercy of God.
At the heart of the Christian faith is God`s mercy.
Peter writes, because of his great mercy…Today we come to a God who is first and foremost merciful.
Mai knew this to be true in her life. She experienced the mercy of God through her Christian faith.
She was a woman who had a strong but quiet faith – not one really to shout about her faith, not that she was ashamed of it, rather she was a doer – one who was prepared to take of her coat, roll up her sleeves and get stuck in.
We will all have memories of Mai doing exactly that!
Let me share a few memories …Mai loved Hillington Park Christmas fayre`s – I can still picture her going about with her pick a pocket apron – where you paid her a pound and you picked her pocket for a gift. She loved the planning of Christmas fayre`s and she was always at the heart of them.
She loved raising money for the church and pushing projects forward like our centenary project , when we had to raise over £50,000 for refurbishments to the church and Mai was a major force in this. She was a pillar of Hillington Park Church. 10 years ago, she was on the vacancy team that called me to be her minister here and it`s been a great privilege for me knowing Mai over these years. She was a great encourager.
But it wasn’t just the church who benefitted from Mai`s hard work – the bowling club also was blessed with her. For Mai gave and received a lot from Cardonald Bowling Club – Mai and her husband Bill joined the bowling club just for something for both of them to do together over 40 years ago. She was to go on love her bowling club and she was a past president and an honorary vice president and I know that the club also benefitted from her hard work.
Mai served as an elder here in the church for many years. She took her eldership duties seriously – she visited people and looked out for individuals – she loved our annual conferences away and she organised the home baking for the conferences. She was very faithful at Session Meetings and gave her all for the church.
She was at the heart of the stapling group and was always there to make sure that things were well organised and the messengers were put in the dockets.
She was also a Board member and did a lot for the fabric of the church. Mai`s handiwork is seen all about the church. The communion cloth in front of me was made by Mai for our centenary year and she wanted it done perfectly. She had many attempts at getting it exactly right?
She was a team leader in the fellowship team and one of her duties was looking after the welcome team on a Sunday morning and Mai took great pride when people told her that they received a warm welcome at the door and she took great pride when she heard people tell her that Hillington Park is a friendly Church.
There is a verse in the bible that says, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked”. Mai was our door keeper, making sure that standards of other doorkeepers in the church were maintained and that the Sunday rotas were always covered.
But she did have one complaint about the front door of the church – that some days in the winter, there is an arctic wind blowing into the front of the church, she would say to me, “when the doors are opened – either all the hot air escapes or the cold wind comes in” and Mai beat her drum for the last few years – “When are we getting glass doors to keep the heat in, Let`s not put it off to long!” She would say.
Unfortunately she didn`t get to see them but we hope that in the future, when we get glass doors to keep the heat in and the cold out, that we will fondly remember Mai`s words.
The Ark is the Church`s Gift and Card Shop on Paisley Road West and all the profits raised in the ARK go to help street children in Uganda.
Mai`s slot was a Wednesday morning with her good friend Nan Cairns. Wednesday is my day for visiting Craigton Primary School. On my way back from the school, I often popped in and had a chat with Mai and Nan and before I could say good morning, Mai is out with a cup of tea for me.
She loved working in the ARK. She was a great seller and nobody got out of the shop without buying something!
In the 6 years, since we`ve opened, we have raised in excess of £70,000 for street children in Uganda and Mai contributed a good bit to these profits. She would say to me each week – what new things are in!
She was a faithful member of the Guild and could always be relied on. She was a great knitter and made many things for charities. She would have been so pleased to see the large spread of food that the Guild has prepared for us today. But as Helen Shanks, Guild president, said to me, “Mai would have been the first to volunteer to help provide for someone else”.
Only a few weeks ago she was along at a meeting in the church – when we were discussing setting up a Youth Café and a few days afterwards she said to me, “John if only I was 30 years younger, I would be helping you set it up!”
We will remember Mai as a lady who enjoyed fun and a good laugh.
My oldest daughter did a shift with Mai in the ARK and I can remember Lindsay telling me afterwards that she enjoyed her shift with Mai and listening to her stories of a holiday in Vegas and she made it sound so much fun.
For Mai enjoyed her holidays especially in those last eight years with Georgie and Andrew. They are not long back from a holiday in Croatia.
She was so proud of her family and she loved them all and we are grateful today for those wonderful family bonds and memories that we heard about earlier from her sons Colin and Jim.
Mai was a loving and devoted wife to Bill. They were blessed with the following family… Jim & Annette, Colin & Alison and Deborah & Iain, and Lindsay & Paul, Andrew, Ruairdh, Gordon & Gemma, Duncan & Kerry, Heather, Carolyn & Neil, Beth, Joshua, Alice, Rebecca & Neil, Cara, Sarah & Ewan and David.
But not only do we look back to a good life we look forward and this is the beauty of what it is to be a Christian. Your view of life is not measured in the years that you live on earth. Your life is measured in the scale of eternity. That’s the living hope that Peter was speaking about – to know in your heart that this life is only the beginning of something greater and the living hope is discovered in the resurrection of Christ. God has given us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death.
Our hope today is not in our good works or in our efforts to please God. Our hope today is in Jesus Christ who was raised to eternal life and all who look to Christ in faith will have eternal life and so said Peter, “we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people”.
That is our hope today for Mai, that she knows God`s richest blessings, that he has kept for her.
Today we can celebrate Mai`s life and we can rejoice also that she is safe in the arms of God knowing his richest blessings.
Peter writes, God keeps them for us in heaven, where they cannot decay or fade away.” Mai today knows God`s reward for a faithful and loving life.
“So Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away”.
Amen.