“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”Poet and Anglican priest John Donne penned these famous words in his Meditation 17 almost 400 years ago while he battled a chronic illness which eventually claimed his life. He is right in saying “any man’s death” anyone’s death diminishes us. And how much more true it is when the man is Herb Rollins. When we consider the depth and breadth of his impact on us and our community, I think it’s fair to say his death diminishes all of us because he was involved with all of us. And yet, the converse of this is also true – we are all tremendously blessed to have known Herb as a friend and companion on our earthly journey.
Herb was a child of God; loving husband, father and grandfather; active church member; veteran; lawyer; judge; hunting buddy; chorale member; mentor; friend … I could go on, but Herb would have been uncomfortable with that. He wasn’t one to “toot” his own horn or over polish the apple. Even in his obituary (which he wrote) he didn’t want it all to be about himself, so he took the time to praise his colleagues and say how proud he was of your accomplishments. Over the past several days, his family, friends and colleagues have shared so many wonderful remembrances that I frankly wondered how a preacher like me could provide an appropriate summation to a life so richly lived. Fortunately I didn’t have to because Judge Theresa Adams provided one to me on Tuesday during my visit with the family. When she came to express her condolences on hearing the news about Herb, Judge Adams said, “What a lovely, lovely man.” That said it all – he was a lovely, lovely man.
While I had heard much about Herb (who around here hadn’t?), I only had the privilege of meeting him a month ago. When I visited him at the hospital, he was already hosting a guest! I told him I didn’t want to intrude, but he reached out to shake my hand and welcomed me with a warm smile and bright eyes. Even on the day when he received the hard news that his cancer was back, he was still able to welcome me. The same was true last Friday when I visited him at home and brought him Holy Communion. He welcomed me with grace and hospitality. He was so quick to express his gratitude for all the visitors he had and how much everyone was doing for him that I was reminded of the 14th century German theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart who said, “If the only prayer you ever uttered was ‘thank you,’ it would be enough.” Herb prayed that prayer often. He was truly thankful for all of you and for everything God had given him.
This lovely life of grace, hospitality and thanksgiving was a testimony to the fact that Herb knew both who he was and, more importantly, whose he was. His public vocation to serve as an attorney and judge as well as his more private vocations as husband, father and friend were all built on the foundation of his faith in the God who created him and his Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed him. That faith infused him with the Holy Spirit and gave him a sense of purpose, guided his ethics, and gave him that innate sense of fairness he tried to apply in his life and his courtroom. As Scott Rolle said in the newspaper interview this week, you may not have always agreed with Herb but, “You knew if you went before him, you were going to get a fair shake.”
In the words of Psalm 84 which Judge Adams just read, “No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who walk with integrity.” By God’s grace and his faith, Herb walked with integrity and there is no doubt that he heard the words of his Lord and Savior saying, “Well done good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Master.”
In his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands that is eternal in the heavens.” Paul compares our earthly bodies to tents – temporary and fragile dwellings which are easily destroyed. But he also speaks the promise of Christ, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” God has prepared for each of us that permanent dwelling, not built by human hands, eternal in the heavens which will never die. This is the resurrected life Herb now enjoys in full communion with the Lord.
We too are entering a resurrected life with Herb because our relationship with him is not over. It is forever changed, but it is not ended. In the days and weeks to come, each of us will enter into a new relationship with Herb. Whether it’s being outside in the garden and seeing a beautiful flower that reminds you of him, or watching a sunset in Florida where he loved to visit, or seeing something absurdly funny and laughing to yourself about what Herb would have said about the situation, or struggling over a difficult case and without warning coming to an insight that would have made Herb proud – all of these will happen as you come to know him in a new way in his resurrected life.
In the same Meditation 17, John Donne describes resurrection in a way that I think a judge or attorney would understand and appreciate. He uses the metaphor of books and if there’s one thing that pastors and lawyers have in common, it’s a passion for books. Donne wrote:
“… all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.”Amen.
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