A sea of people

Gravir church

I was in the congregation at our local church today.
Two of the kindest, most generous and welcoming people passed away together and the church was completely full for them.

The service was mostly in English, but as is normal with the Western Isles Free Church, there was some psalm singing.
I have not heard so many voices joining together to sing Gaelic psalms before and the effect was quite literally moving.
Psalms don't seem to follow the same rules that other group singing has.  It is usually led by someone with others joining in, in what sounds like their own interpretation of the same song.  The pace seems to vary from person to person and people move from high to low notes in different places.  But it literally sweeps you up like waves in the sea.
Imagine wading out into the sea to shoulder height and feeling the rolling waves pulling you in different directions, tugging at you and carrying you off your feet.  This was what being a part of the service felt like today.

When we first moved to Lewis, amongst a sea of new faces, Boy & Maureen stood out.  They were the very first people we met on the day we arrived - they ran the local post office and we stopped to ask directions for the house we were staying at.  When Mark took over as their postman 10 years later,  they became a part of his everyday and over that year they all got to know each other not just as colleagues but as friends too.

They supported every local group and always attended every event.  They talked to everyone, whether about the latest news in the area, or with a heartfelt story from the past.  I cannot think of one person living here who didn't know them.  As Mark said in his own tribute, everything they had, they gave.

They will be very missed when we all finally believe that they are gone.