Cindy Maxwell 1949-2021
Died 12.12.21
“Humble Like This Child”
First reading: Isaiah 11:1-6
Psalm: 23rd Psalm
Reading: “Autumn Psalm of Fearlessness” Edward Hays. I shared this in my last visit with Cindy and she seemed to really appreciate it.
Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5
Download 3FDF1A90-8D3A-48B4-8E56-D9129FA73E17_1_201_a
We met Cindy when we moved to Kansas City in 1981. She became a part of our family: babysitter, daughter, sister, friend, cat-sitter, home-keeper. She spent most of her life caring for and loving little children and cats (a few dogs as well.). Cindy seemed happiest when she was caring, befriending, entertaining, others. Many of you can share your stories and I hope you will as you also share grieve. The daughter of a Jamaican and a Minnesota Swede, she was both a sun worshipper in her younger years and a person of deep trust in her friends and her God.
We have in our backyard a statute of Jizo. Believed to be a great protector of women, children, and travelers, Jizo looks over our garden with a calming smile and Namaste pose. A soothing way to welcome guests to our home, this peaceful little Buddha is a bodhisattva, a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana, in order to save others. This childlike figure is especially cherished by children as they need companions as they grow and especially as they face illness and early death. Jizu has become one of the most beloved figures of Japanese Buddhism. Stone figures of Jizo populate temple grounds, city intersections, and country roads. Often several Jizos stand together, portrayed as small children, dressed in bibs or children's clothes. Several weeks ago, we placed a small red stocking cap on our Jizo and then Ann decided it needed a scarf as well. She didn’t want our other Buddhist statutes to feel neglected, so she also made winter protections for them.
It wasn’t long after that when we got a phone call from Cindy, in tears, informing us of her hospitalization and cancer diagnosis. It was less than a month when we learned Cindy had completed her earthly life and had died. In my visits and our visits Cindy again expressed concern for us, our cat Nyfy, and our needs for a house sitter. She lived and died thinking and caring for others.
Jesus reminded his friends how important it is to become like a little child in trusting, in curiosity, in humility. He made it clear that in his reign it’s not the rich, the powerful, the ones who push other around who are most welcome. It is the little child and whoever welcomes one such child who welcomes him. There are hundreds of little children, now adults, who will never forget Ms. Cindy. Some of you here may be those little children.
We best celebrate Cindy by learning from her that humility is not weak, it is Christ-like strong. Humble is rooted in the same word as humus, the stuff of earth, soil, out of which we are made. It is the same word that our word human comes from. When I invite my friends to “stay human” part of what I am suggesting is that we become more like Cindy and Jizu and Jesus and care deeply for others even as we take care of ourselves. Some infants and toddlers are feeling a loss in their daily routines these past several weeks. I am quite certain that our precious Cindy has again found a new community of little children and continues to love them, lead them, laugh with them and teach them to be more like Jizo and Jesus.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Magnificat – Mary’s Song – Luke 1:46-55
David E. Nelson D. Min.
humanagenda@gmail.com
816.896.3835
Comments