A Celebration of the Life of Ted Kennedy

On August 28, 2009, we watched on television the over three-hour wake for Senator Edward Kennedy. The service was called "A Celebration of Life" and was filled with magical and memorable moments of praise, insight, laughter, song, and tears. The speakers and guests included a formidable collection of family and friends, aides and constituents, local politicians and national leaders from Congress, starting with Paul G. Kirk, Jr., chairman of the Kennedy Library where the event was held and ending with Vice President Joseph R. Bidden.

We already knew about Ted Kennedy's extraordinary work as a liberal Senator committed to justice, peace, and the welfare of the poor and the powerless. But in this deeply moving service we learned much more about the spirituality of this father, husband, brother, uncle, grandfather, and friend.

Here was a man who walked his talk about doing good in the world. We heard about the ways in which he was present as a surrogate father for the Kennedy children who had lost their fathers; the countless times he visited friends when they faced sickness, crisis, tragedy, or loss and relied upon his counsel and concern; the special relationships he developed in the Senate even with those who disagreed with him vehemently; his remembering and honoring of birthdays, anniversaries, and other personal details of friends and family; and the vibrancy he brought to others with his wild sense of humor and his vital love of laughter and singing.

There were stories of the public man, but just as many of the kind deeds he did when he was off-camera and nobody but those directly affected knew about it. Deval Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, told how after the funeral of Israeli Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin, Kennedy spread soil from the graves of his brothers Robert and Jack on the new grave. "No publicity," observed Patrick, "just a good man doing a sweet thing."

We've long known that Ted Kennedy was a practicing Catholic who went to mass and prayed in churches during moments of crisis. But what came through during the wake was his deep and expansive spirituality. He was all about the spiritual practices of love, compassion, hospitality, joy, justice, kindness, nurturing, play, and zeal (which means having a zest of life). We can't remember when we were so moved by the shape and spirit of a memorial service built around such a incredible human being who so broadly and deeply impacted the lives of those around him!

You can watch the memorial service at TedKennedy.org.