1 FEBRUARY 2024
A Funeral Service was held for Anthony Sitts at Minnis Funeral Chapel. Fr. Terrance Klein presided. Anthony died January 25th, 2024 at age 59.
Link to the obituary
Tony's Heart Was Restless |
Anthony Sitts |
Fr Terrance Klein |
1 February 2024 |
1st John 3: 1-2 Matthew 11: 25-30
Tony's heart was restless. It didn’t just beat. It revved. It raced.
Lots of people build things. But whether he was working for himself or for others, it was important for Tony to master his craft, to build with care and precision.
The phrase, now used so often about Tony, was “adrenaline junkie.” Tony loved to ski and to snowmobile. He taught white water rafting. He loved to hang glide, logging 1500 hours of free flight. Where was Tony going? Where was he racing to? That’s just it. The thrill was the target. Tony’s heart didn’t just beat. It revved.
The same was true of Tony’s relationships. He was an extraordinarily amiable man. He made you feel good about yourself. As Steve Billinger put it, “Tony was such a bright life to all who knew him.”
I often went to the hospital, hoping to make Tony feel better. He just wouldn’t have it. At least Tony wouldn’t have it unless he first made me feel good. He didn’t just deliver Meals on Wheels to the elderly of our community. When it came to charming the ladies who lunch, Tony was a dove of love.
Tony died surrounded by those whom he loved. His parents were there to tell him how proud they were of him. And Taylor, the kid brother who looked up to him and whom Tony had always looked out for, was there. Taylor wrote:
Tony, my brother, you showed me the way. You inspired me to do things that I didn’t t hink I could do. Thanks for being there, and for still being here, watching over me. Our hearts are forever connected.
Tony died the way he lived, happy and loved. He told Lori that he had had a wonderful life. His only regret was putting her through his death.
Like so many others, Tony struggled with addiction. Perhaps chemicals could deliver what pride in his work, the thrill of his sports, and the love of friends couldn’t. We’ve all been there. We look for things that seem to let the heart rest a moment before it races on.
In his Confessions, written in the Fourth Century, Saint Augustine admitted to racing through life as well. For so many years, he felt that his desires had kept him from God, but he wrote his autobiography not to record his sins but to confess God’s goodness to him. In his Confessions he addressed God, saying:
Thou hast formed us for Thyself,
and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.
That truth doesn’t just describe Augustine and Anthony. It describes all of us. Like them, we’re essentially restless. If only our work was flawless, if only we could go faster, if only we met the right friend or lover, all would be well. The heart just keeps revving. It doesn’t settle.
What was Tony looking for? What are any of us looking for? Saint Augustine answered that question for himself one agonizing day in a garden. He’d gone there to pray. He felt overwhelmed by his inability to change his life. He wanted to. He so desperately wanted to, but he couldn’t until God gave him the grace.
Today we commend Tony to God, with such mixed thoughts and feelings. We’re still sad, still disappointed that we’ve lost someone who was funny, gracious, hardworking, and kind. But we should also be grateful to God, the one who created Tony, redeemed him, and gave him to us.
And there’s a third feeling. It’s hope. We so truly hope that, coming into the presence of God, Tony finds what his heart has longed for, what kept it revving so long for so much more. The following words of Saint Augustine have echoed through the centuries because they apply to so many of us. Today, we pray, and we firmly hope that Tony has made them his own as well.
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.
Come the end, he had such a peaceful death, even dying with a smile on his face. Perhaps that’s because in finally seeing the face of Christ, Tony found his heart’s desire.
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