Gerald "Jerry" Lynn Barker's Obituary
Gerald “Jerry” Lynn Barker, age 91, passed away on November 19, 2014 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jerry was born on March 8, 1923 in Bozeman, Montana to his parents James Barker and Elsie Peterson. Jerry will be dearly missed by his friends and family.Reading At Jerry’s Service: One morning when I was about 13, we walked out the front door to go to school, and saw grandpa’s truck in the driveway. It was always exciting when grandpa came, and always unexpected. We all know how much grandpa loved to bike, and after school that day he took us on a bike ride. I remember Amanda and I went along with him. We biked through the neighborhood and down to Crestwood park nearby. There are some dirt trails behind the park and we had a great time biking through them. I remember it was a beautiful day. One of the paths led to a sort of gully that went down and came up the other side. Grandpa didn’t know what was on the other side and didn’t stop to check it out. He gained speed as he went down and came up the other side very quickly. At the top of the other side the path continued, but had a big log embedded in the ground. Grandpa’s front tire hit the log and stopped. His back tire kept going, and he was launched into the air and did a full somersault before being thrown to the ground. Amanda and I didn’t know what to do. Here is our nearly 70 year old grandpa crashing to the ground. We didn’t know if he broke his neck or other bones. We quickly walked our bikes over to him. As we neared, we saw he had bloodied his hands, but still had a smile on his face. He got up laughing, dusted himself off, got back on his bike and kept going. It was around this time that Grandpa helped me learn to set and achieve goals. He made it clear that getting my Eagle Scout was a big priority to him and he incentivized me to do so. I was able to earn it when I was 14 and will always tie that achievement to my memory of Grandpa. As I said, Grandpa was always turning up when least expected. I remember coming home from work about ten years ago when we were living in Austin, Texas. Grandpa had come for a visit, had found us not at home and had left a message on our voicemail. I remember the exact wording and will try to say this in my best Grandpa voice: “Robert. This is your grandpa. Where are you?” We kept that message on our recorder for years and always had a good chuckle over it. At this time, I’d like to ask him the same question. Grandpa, where are you? Let me answer that question in several different ways. First, grandpa’s body is here, in this casket. Grandpa is also here in the sense that he lives on in us and our memories. But the real grandpa, the person we all know, his essence, is still alive as a spirit. The scriptures teach us that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man.” D&C 88:15 Grandpa’s body has died and is still here with us, but his spirit lives on and is with us as well. In order to properly understand how this works, we need to have the right perspective. We need to put this life in context. We have a loving heavenly Father who has a plan for us. To help describe this plan, I’m going to read four paragraphs from a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer: The plan of redemption, with its three divisions, might be likened to a grand three-act play. Act I is entitled “Premortal Life.” The scriptures describe it as our First Estate. (See Jude 1:6; Abr. 3:26-28) Act II, from birth to the time of resurrection, the “Second Estate.” And Act III, “Life After Death or Eternal Life.” In mortality, we are like one who enters a theater just as the curtain goes up on the second act. We have missed Act I. The production has many plots and sub-plots that interweave, making it difficult to figure out who relates to whom and what relates to what, who are the heros and who are the villains. It is further complicated because you are not just a spectator; you are a member of the cast, on stage, in the middle of it all! As part of the eternal plan, the memory of our premortal life, Act I, is covered with a veil. Since you enter mortality at the beginning of Act II with no recollection of Act I, it is little wonder that it is difficult to understand what is going on. That loss of memory gives us a clean start. It is ideal for the test; it secures our individual agency, and leaves us free to make choices. Many of them must be made on faith alone. Even so, we carry with us some whispered knowledge of our premortal life and our status as offspring of immortal parents. Grandpa has finished his time on earth, but his play is not yet over. I know we will see him again. I know he loves us and it watching out for us. The two big obstacles in this play are physical death and spiritual death. We will all die one day. No one gets out of this life alive. That is physical death. We all make mistakes. To err is human. Because of our mortal, fallen condition, we are separated from God. This is spiritual death. Jesus Christ has the central role is this play because he makes it possible for us to overcome both physical and spiritual death. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected, we will all be resurrected as well. One day grandpa’s spirit will reenter his body, never to be separated. This will be a new, glorified body, not subject to death. This is a free gift to all of us, regardless of our choices in this life. Overcoming spiritual death, however, is not free. This is something that Christ cannot do without our consent. In the Book of Mormon we read that “No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus Christ not only paid the price for our sins, but he experienced all of our pains, sicknesses and heartaches. (Alma 7:11-12) This was accomplished through the atonement. The atonement of Christ not only provides for us to be forgiven of our sins, but it is the enabling power that helps us forgive others. Now, as we all do, grandpa made some mistakes in life. Lots of small ones and some big ones. I know he wants to make those mistakes right and I know that he will work to do so. Just like falling off his bike on our Crestwood bike ride, he is dusting himself off, getting back on his bike and moving forward. We all need to follow his example and do the same. We’ve all made mistakes and had setbacks. We need to turn all of our sins, mistakes, resentments, grudges and heartaches over to Jesus Christ. Doing so allows us to be healed, to progress and to be happy. That is the main purpose of Act II of this play, to learn turn to Him and use the atonement. When seen in this context, death is not a tragedy. It is simply moving on the next act. Nothing is lost; all that matters moves on. It is all part of the plan. It is all part of the play. I know we will see grandpa again. And I know that he is still striving to be a better person. Let us strive to be better people as well, so that our reunion may be a joyous one. I testify that it is only through our Savior Jesus Christ that we can find true peace, happiness and the desires of our hearts, not only in the next life, but in this life as well. I’m grateful to have known grandpa and am grateful for his example to me. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
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