The family memorial service for Dr. James Dobson was held at Cherry Hills Community Church near Denver on October 4. I joined my JDFI colleagues, Shirley Dobson, and her adult children, Danae and Ryan, along with hundreds of friends and supporters for our final goodbye. The day was full of emotion as we celebrated Dr. Dobson’s life and glorified God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (A video recording of the service should be available for viewing early next week.)
Pastor Jim Garlow’s eulogy could not have captured the moment better. He began by citing the book of Joshua’s opening sentences: “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua . . . , ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel’” (Josh. 1:1-2, ESV).
Pastor Garlow was making a powerful analogy. Just as the people of Israel lost a great leader in Moses, we have lost a great leader in Dr. Dobson. But the Jews were called not just to mourn, but also to act after Moses went to be with the Lord. Likewise, we are called to act now and take up Dr. Dobson’s mantle.
In addition to Pastor Garlow’s inspiring message, I was honored to be one of six individuals chosen by Dr. Dobson, before his passing, to reflect on his life at the memorial service.
I told the gathering that I first met Jim when I was serving in the Reagan White House as head of the Office of Domestic Policy Development. He noticed that I was regularly defending the sanctity of life, religious liberty, and marriage between a man and a woman. These were not popular positions in the nation’s capital. He invited me on his influential radio show so his vast audience could get to know me. This strengthened my hand in the battles in Washington, D.C. That invitation began a decades-long friendship and a partnership that continues today as I represent JDFI in our nation’s capital.
In my tribute, I asked the audience to imagine we received one last letter from Jim, this one postmarked “Heaven.” Jim was known in his monthly letters for his creative writing and ability to capture a place and a moment with his prose. The reader would feel they were seeing through Jim’s eyes.
If, right now, Jim was describing heaven to us, what would he write? I know he would tell us there is no pain, no suffering, no disease, and no more death.
There are no cancer wards, heart centers, oxygen masks, and no more probes and medical tests.
There are no hospital halls filled with the wails of people losing loved ones, and no more wheelchairs carrying people with paralyzed and twisted limbs.
Where Jim is now, the blind see. The deaf hear. The lame leap with joy. There are no more wars, and no more assassins driven by hate.
Jim is listening to a million-voice choir, with one hundred and forty-four thousand harpists—twelve thousand for each tribe of Israel. And, of course, Jim has seen Jesus. His faith has become sight. He is with the perfect Lamb, the “Lion of Judah.”
Dr. Dobson dedicated his life to strengthening marriages and families, and he cared deeply about preserving America as “one nation under God.”
I reminded the group that the best way we can honor the life and legacy of Dr. James Dobson is by defending—with all our strength and love—our faith, our families, and our freedom until Christ returns or we go home to Heaven. That is what the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute is dedicated to doing with your prayers and support.
