At Marcus Veng Petersen's funeral September 10th 2004,
by the priest Otto Lundgaard:

"Today we are gathered in Stroeby Church to say a last goodbye to Marcus.

Marcus died peacefully at the hospital on Tuesday. He laid in his mothers arms and held his fathers and sisters hands in his hands, when he died. In your presence he lived his entire live. And in your presence he was free. Free from the pain and free from the anxiety he had had during his serious illness.

Marcus was only seven years old. Only seven, that is how we think and that is how we feel.

It is as though we can understand and it is easier to live with the fact that adults die, when they have lived their lives. But that at living and happy boy like Marcus is no longer among us – that is not acceptable. And yet we have to live with this. That is the facts we have faced since Tuesday.

Marcus knew how ill he was. He knew at the end that he was dying. And he knew he was going to Heaven. But he was HERE to the end, because Marcus WANTED life. Life was there, where you were together and shared life. As late as Saturday before his dead he went to circus.

Marcus was a boy with many talents. And he knew how to use them. He demanded challenges – and he embraced them all, whether it was difficult arithmetical problems, puzzles and Nintendo games. Marcus wanted to be a professor. And he wanted to be a writer and an artist. And I think he had the talent for it all. Marcus had many interests, constantly acquired new knowledge. As one of his friends told me: "Marcus knew it all. We could always go to him, if there was anything we wanted to know".

Marcus loved to watch the colours in the sky at sunset. He loved to watch cartoons on Cartoon Network. He asked serious questions to all he saw and heard. He argued well for his points of view and was not the slightest orthodox when he challenged an adult family member in a discussion.

Today, September 10th, Marcus would have turned eight years old. And yet he will have his party, as you mentioned during our conversation two days ago. For today we are gathered around Marcus. And we are here to tell you, Robert, Annette and Helena, that we also grieve for your son and brother. Your grief is also our grief. And the grief is the love that we no longer feel we can give to Marcus.

Marcus, you will never be forgotten. Those words are written on the ribbon on the wreath from Marcus´ NEW FRIENDS as he called his class mates from the school. Our children remember and will always remember Marcus as a good friend. His light will shine for them. And we parents will remember him as a boy with a vigilant look in his beautiful eyes with the indeterminable colour. We always noticed him when we came into the class room. Though he was a quiet boy, we felt his presence.

You told me, that when Marcus was dead and lay in the hospital bed, there was still life in his eyes. May that be a good and living memory of your son. Life is stronger than dead. We can trust that Marcus is now with God – in Gods living hands, where death, pain, anxiety and grief will never have the last words. We have Gods words for, that that will never be the last. For where God is – there is love. The love that receives our dead and keep them there. And the love that will be here with us who have to live with the grief of loosing Marcus.

Dear Robert and Annette. And dear Helena. All that you have given Marcus – all that Marcus has given you – and all that you love him for – no one in the world can take that away from you and will never be buried with him. Marcus will always be your son and your brother. Your thoughts and memories of him, which can only hurt today, will help you to get on in life as Marcus will always be a part of. And we hope, a living part that will also give you hope.

On your family web site you have told about Marcus and his illness. You told me that you have shared you experiences with other families' trough out the world with children suffering from the same disease. You have hereby helped and supported other families – and you have given other children hope and courage. You have saved lives.

You now have to live as the family you are. It takes time. And we all have to help you with that, because you are not alone. Today your family and friends are here to support you. And to all of you in church I want to say that it is good you came and it is good that you want to share Robert, Annette and Helena's grief, like you have also shared their joys. You have to continue to do so. Also in a week, in a month, in a year.

When we feel that our words are not enough – when we cannot express our feelings, when life falls apart for us – then it is redeeming when others can step up and help us get the words out.

That is what Ronan Keating did in the song "If tomorrow never comes". I know it is a song which means a lot to you. You have had it with you, and have reminded you every day, that we live of love. The love from God, which we daily embrace and pass on.

If tomorrow never comes
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch him sleeping
He's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would he ever doubt the way I feel
About him in my heart

If tomorrow never comes
Will he know how much I loved him
Did I try in every way to show him every day
That he's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And he must face the world without me
Is the love I gave him in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes

´cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed

So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much he means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell him how I feel

So tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes


The song tells us a lot about why we are here. And what life is. We have all received the gift of life from God. Life is a treasured gift, which we owe to God and each other to take seriously. For life shall not be hidden and kept for ourselves. Life is  gift, and it is our obligation to share it. And that we do by showing and telling each other that we love each other, so that we will never doubt it.

We must therefore tell our loved ones every day that they are loved. For life is too short not to do so. If we always think that that can be said or done tomorrow or another day – we will take life itself out of life. In other words, we underestimate life. We shall never hide it in our minds or only contemplate on what we wanted to have said, done or given each other – we have to do it! And rather today than tomorrow.

I know that you told and showed Marcus that. He knew he was loved for who he is – loved by his family, loved by his friends.

Gods love for us is the same. God knows us and is always near. That is what we need to know today. There is no pain, no anxiety and no sorrow that God will not share with us. And there are no thoughts and feelings inside us that God does not know and will not understand. Whether we live or die, we belong to God and are at home with him in his divine love. That shall give us hope – a living hope which extends beyond life and death and towards the day where we shall meet again in Heaven. And it is with that hope that we say goodbye to Marcus today and pray that God will keep Marcus with him. Now and for eternity.

God's peace with you, Marcus. God's peace with us all."