July 26, 2007
My good friend and mentor Bishop Ben Oliphint died on July 7th at the age of 83. Elected to the Episcopacy in 1980, he was surely one of the most popular Bishops in the recent history of Methodism. He was my boss at First United Methodist in Dallas in the early 1970’s, and he has been a wonderful friend and encourager for the past 35 years.
I was out of town when I received news of his death and was unable to attend the glorious memorial service in Houston. But I talked with both his daughter Mary Brooke Casad (my longtime friend and partner in General Conference work) and his son Clayton (my cherished colleague and Sr. Pastor at First Church, Richardson). After reminiscing some about Ben’s remarkable life, I asked this question: “Did you sing I’LL PRAISE MY MAKER WHILE I’VE BREATH at the service?”
The reason I asked that question is that I’ve never forgotten something that Ben said to me over 30 years ago. He said that when his time came, he wanted that hymn sung at his funeral. At the time I went and looked up the words and decided that they were about as appropriate for a memorial service as any that are in our hymnal:
I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath;
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers.
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures.
You already know the answer: of course they sang it. And what a fitting tribute to one whose life and spirit reflected those words. Ben now praises God in heaven, but his legacy endures as an encouragement to us all. Let us join him in praising God in this life and beyond.
