A while back, I worked in a small retail store run by a husband and wife. The man was born with one crippled arm and I remember his wife telling a few employees, probably in response to their questions, that he tried to exercise that arm to gain more
mobility, but that it was very painful. I had only worked there a short time when the man died suddenly from a heart attack.
I went to the funeral home viewing to show my respect although I did not feel as though I knew anyone very well. When I looked at the man's face in the coffin, I could only remember that he had been a kind man; he seemed to me to be unselfish in dealing with others, the little that I knew of him. I thought, "Well, now he has full use of his arm [in the spiritual realm]". Suddenly I felt a profound joy fill me from head to toe.
Sometimes, one might feel a wave of emotion come and then leave, but this feeling did not go away; I felt like dancing! I said goodbye to his wife and left the funeral home quickly because I was afraid that my happiness would be misinterpreted as disrespect; many people around me had been weeping.
As I walked out of the funeral home, a song began to form in my mind, "Unencumbered am I". Sometimes it takes me a few years to finish a song, but this one I finished in time for the funeral two days later. I truly felt that this man was helping me from start to finish; he wanted to share this loving and hopeful message with his family and friends.
His kindness continues long after his death because I have sung this at many funerals and given the words to many people. If it gives you comfort, please feel free to share it with others.
Unencumbered am I
Unencumbered am I by the body I was in
Unencumbered by the illness and the age that had crept in
Unencumbered by anxieties and worries are no more
When I took my final breath and walked right through that Golden Door.
From here I see my life so clear-each word and deed of mine;
The kindness shown to others as a sea of diamonds shine;
A treasure chest is full of gems from trials I’ve endured;
And each tiny precious memory as gold shines bright and pure.
Unencumbered am I and I wish the same for you
That your worries, grief and sorrow would evaporate as dew
For love lasts all eternity; our body‘s merely lent.
Please celebrate with happiness a life that was well spent.
Please celebrate with me, that all our lives will be well spent.
-Rhonda Williams (and “Chip”)
Unencumbered am I by the body I was in
Unencumbered by the illness and the age that had crept in
Unencumbered by anxieties and worries are no more
When I took my final breath and walked right through that Golden Door.
From here I see my life so clear-each word and deed of mine;
The kindness shown to others as a sea of diamonds shine;
A treasure chest is full of gems from trials I’ve endured;
And each tiny precious memory as gold shines bright and pure.
Unencumbered am I and I wish the same for you
That your worries, grief and sorrow would evaporate as dew
For love lasts all eternity; our body‘s merely lent.
Please celebrate with happiness a life that was well spent.
Please celebrate with me, that all our lives will be well spent.
-Rhonda Williams (and “Chip”)