Blessing the Graves at the Old Farmers’ Cemetery

Bless these cherished men and women, Lord, who gave us life and sustenance that we also might glory in your name. Bless their memory, dust-caked and tanned, one eye to the sky, the other to the land. Bless their perseverance in the face of drought, floods, hail, locusts, and unfavorable markets. Bless their faith that bore them through hardships and delivered them into the joy of your grace. Bless them, Lord, for the prayerfulness that resolved their doubts and uncertainties. Bless their round-the-clock readiness to help those in need. Bless their labor-shined overalls and pinafores and their humble boots lined on the porch. Bless their resourcefulness – tape, wire, and inspiration answering farm life’s sundry wear-and-tear. Bless them, Lord, whose transgressions paled before those of greedy bankers exacting high interests. Bless their straightforward ways – their days too short for frivolous pursuits. Bless their tenderness showered upon their sons and daughters, beloved inheritors of their land. Bless their stewardship of this Earth you’ve gifted us. Bless its green pastures on which their spirits still walk. Bless the bumper crops of goodness they reaped in life, binned safely now in heaven. And bless all here assembled, that we might take example from the souls arrayed before us. In your name, Lord, we bless these graves and the pillowed soil in which our dear ones rest. May each enshrined memory draw us closer to you.