James Nulton Funeral – August 28, 2023
According to American author and sailor, Webb Chiles, “A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind.” A sailor has to contend with the unpredictability of many conditions and carefully, skillfully take those given conditions and guide the ship through the waters recognizing that fundamental truth – it’s not just about getting to the destination, it’s about enjoying all that the journey provides to help you get there.
Jim was a skilled sailor, able to dock a boat with such alacrity that everyone on shore stopped to admire the smooth and graceful movement like an artist putting that last flourish of color on canvas. And, that makes sense, because he was passionate about sailing and found joy in passing that passion onto others as an instructor. Eight times he made the 1200 mile journey along the intercoastal waterways between Annapolis and Delray, adroitly guiding the boat through heavy traffic and sometimes unpredictable waters. Even this last year, he made the run one last time – a task that took everything out of him, but it was worth it.
They say that sailing provides some life lessons to those who learn from it, such as (1) The path is rarely linear from point of origin to destination; (2) Big things are measured in small increments; (3) It is easy to give up – only the strong persevere; and, (4) Paying attention carefully not only ensures safety, it disposes to experience the wonders of waters.
I am sure Jim could add to these, or, at least embellish them beautifully to affirm their truth not only in the general sense, but specifically in his own life. For indeed, the destination Jim took to get to those destinations in life was rarely linear – like most of our lives. Navigation itself is more than just reading the charts – it’s interpreting the conditions and figuring out the best course of action. Perhaps that’s why Webb Chiles compares the sailor to the artist, but we might just as easily say that anyone who figures out how to navigate the waters of life to find joy and peace is a kind of artist as well.
For Jim, this flowed easily and directly from his heart and personality. He could walk into a room and in a short time not only know the names of everyone in it, but know something about them and their lives. This happened because he was a genuine people-person, whose skills in paying attention and listening to others came from a place of sincere interest and care. Because of this he could make friends easily and, although frustrating at times, could also talk to anyone about anything. I am told that it would take a good half-hour for him to make it to the boat from the parking lot because he engaged and was engaged by everyone on the dock, affectionately earning the moniker “Mayor of the marina.”
But for you, the many gathered here in this Cathedral today, I am not sharing anything new. Most of you are here because this is exactly the caring and sincere man whom you couldn’t help but love, for he touched your lives and took his place in your own hearts. I am grateful that the celebration which follows the burial today includes the opportunity for so many of you to speak and share your stories about Jim and your time with him. In a certain sense, this takes the pressure off of me to try to encapsulate in my words the broadness and richness of his life. And, it gives me the opportunity to focus a little more intensely on his faith, his spirituality.
Jim did a lot of soul-searching in his life. He was deeply reflective and, even more importantly, responsive to the impulse of that graced reflection inspired by the Holy Spirit. For Jim, all of the problems of life could be confronted with this simple truth: “The solution is going to be a spiritual solution.”
To those who might not be believers or struggle with spirituality, this could seem to be a simplistic and even irresponsible philosophy of life. But, to those who believe, who know that the Spirit of Love has been poured out into our hearts, this is the only thing that really makes sense. I know some of you were the recipients of Jim’s evangelization – brought from non-believer to believer, from earthly solutions to spiritual ones. You know what I am talking about.
Confronting the challenges and trials of life, faith demands something more than just a good earthly solution. It demands discernment of how God is at work in a given situation or person, how God is guiding and inspiring, how God is truly in charge. When faced with cancer three times, Jim’s response was spiritual – he prayed, he brought others to prayer, he went to the healing waters of Lourdes, he went on retreat. He was no mechanical Catholic, he was a man of deep and abiding faith that knew behind every earthly woe was hidden the face of God waiting to be discovered and waiting to be known and loved.
The annual Palm Sunday Men’s Retreat in Malvern was an
anchor in Jim’s life. From it he gained perspective and insight, from it he gained strength and fortitude. We know how deeply it affected him simply by the number of men he coerced into going along with him!
His prayer did what prayer can do for any one of us: it showed him how to see as God sees and how to love as God loves. There are many episodes in his life from which we can learn this lesson, but Laetitia shared with me one that was particularly poignant. Jim had developed an auto-immune disease that gave him great pain in his hand. When reflecting on his bodily suffering, Jim simply pointed out that the pain in his hand was nothing compared to the pain in Christ’s hand on the Cross. He was able to unite himself and his pain with that of the Suffering Lord whose death and resurrection frees us from pain and suffering, and brings life out of death.
“The solution is going to be a spiritual solution.”
In his life, Jim taught us this truth not only by word but especially by example. In his death, he continues to teach us. As he fell asleep into the peace of Christ on Sunday, August 20, he leaves behind a legacy of faith and compassion and caring that is now entrusted to all who had the privilege to be impacted by his life. And, he invites us today, in the midst of our heartache and grief, to discover that even in this problem of pain facing us today, there is a spiritual solution that we can find if we dare to set sail with Christ and travel that unpredictable journey with him to our eternal home.
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