Our good friend Alex has passed away. He was a frequent commenter here at Always On Watch and at Infidel Bloggers Alliance, and a regular participant in the chat room at The Gathering Storm Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio.
On Sunday, as soon as I heard the sad news, I spoke by phone to his son Amnon. Of course, I offered my condolences.
Alex was a good friend to Mr. AOW and me. When Mr. AOW was in the nursing home, nobody called him there - except for Alex, who phoned all the way from Israel to speak to my husband.
"Courage from Israel!" Alex stated emphatically.
Alex also phoned our home several times after Mr. AOW came home. Mr. AOW loved those calls. They meant a lot to him and to me as well.
Amnon asked me to post an announcement here on the web as Alex's family didn't know all the Internet acquaintances and friends that Alex had made.
Tough as I am, I am typing this post through tears.
I will miss Alex. He was a rock - and lots of fun too.
From Pastorius's tribute at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:
So sorry to hear AOW.
ReplyDeleteBunkerville,
ReplyDeleteAlex's unexpected and premature death has me in a funk.
We really CAN deeply grieve over a the loss of a cyber friend. Of course, Alex was more than a cyber friend. He was planning to come to D.C. in 2013 and stay with us for a while.
I'm sorry I never had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Muench. I had not even heard of him till the report came in of his too-early death, but I must say starting the blogging day with the beautiful music of Albinoni, who sounds a lot like J.S. Bach at first hearing, but was very much his own man, is balm for the soul on any occasion -- a great antidote to the strident, thumping, tumultuous distraction with which we are bombarded constantly by the enemedia.
ReplyDeleteMusic of this fine a quality is not sad, not depressing, never lugubrious. Instead it is a perfect background for serene contemplation. It encourages us to lift our thoughts to God -- a reminder that life is infinite and eternal, and that what-we-call death is really a liberating process -- an opening to a purely spiritual existence where pain, suffering, anxiety and anger no longer dominate our consciousness.
I hope his family and all who knew and loved him will be able to rejoice and be glad that he is now at perfect peace close to the One who made him.
"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal."
I believe we are never deprived of the living presence of someone we've known and loved. As long as we remember them with affection and gratitude -- not egocentrically seeing ourselves as victimized by their passing -- they will live in our hearts forever and continue to inspire and counsel us.
I know this to be true, because most of my family, my teachers and many of my dearest friends have died, but I know they have not deserted me. I often see current events through their eyes -- as I know they would have reacted. Their wisdom, their humor, their whimsical little quirks, endearing faults and affection continue to bring comfort, cheer and wry amusement.
May it be so for all who knew and loved Alexander Muench.
~ FreeThinke
"For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest"
ReplyDelete1. For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
3. Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
4. O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
5. And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
6. But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
7. From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
8. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
~ William W. How (1823-1897)
Text: Heb. 12:1
Set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906,
Tune: "Sine nomine"
Submitted by FreeThinke
FT,
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that you'd comment and leave some appropriate poetry.
Alex's mother died about a year ago, and his father is still living. If I recall, his parents fled the Holocaust -- or perhaps were Holocaust survivors who were in a concentration camp.
He is survived by his twin sons, Amnon and Jonathan, both of whom recently finished their service in the IDF.
Alex was born in Israel in 1948, the year the Israel became a modern state. I believe that Alex's career was that of an electrical engineer. He was still working at the time of this death -- after a long stretch of unemployment due to an economic downturn in Israel.
God rest your soul, Mr Münch.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear this. He visited Right Truth occasionally but I never knew him beyond that. He sounds like such a fine person and I know Mr. AOW appreciated every phone call and act of kindness, especially from that distance.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
I am sorry that I never had the pleasure of reading the words of your friend, Alex Munch. I join in your sorrow and that of his family because we have all lost a kinder spirit.
ReplyDeleteRIP, Alex Munch!
"If a piece of the continent is washed away,
ReplyDeleteEurope is the less.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee."
~ John Donne
Sixteenth and Seventeenth-century poet and clergyman, John Donne (1572-1631) had remarkable insight. Despite what I said above, which I believe to be true for receptive souls, all of us are still diminished whenever a good, kind, decent, constructive individual dies.
No one on earth should be considered "unimportant." None of us is indispensable, but all of us count for something, even if we turn out to be "good-for-nothing."
Even when we disagree vehemently each of us owes the other a measure of respect.
~ FreeThinke
Just reading this brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteI am so truly sorry for this great loss, for both you and Mr. AOW.
May his memory live on forever.
God bless his family and his friends.
Very sad news. Rest in peace, Mr. Münch.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, AOW...for you and Mr AOW and Alex's family.
ReplyDeleteThe cello quartet is so beautiful and so perfect in its sadness and beauty.
Sorry for your loss my condolences to you and his family.
ReplyDeleteI miss Alex!
ReplyDelete