Funeral

I stood and watched as the casket containing the remnants of a friend was lowered into the ground.  The paint was beautiful and the chrome shiny – it reminded me of a new car.  A noisy flock of geese honked their last respects as they performed a low altitude fly-by directly overhead in perfect Vee formation.  You couldn’t buy that!

It was an easy day – not hot, not cold, not windy or wet.  It was a nice day for a funeral if there is such a thing.  The green wall-to-wall carpet of hillside grass perfectly blanketed the cemetery. 

I had known this friend for many years, but I did not know him well.  I think the same can be said for most of my friends.  Who do I know well?  I think I know my wife well after all these years, but again and again, I realize I don’t.  If I can’t know her well after years of eating, sleeping, and living together, who can I know well?

As the appointed spokesperson reviewed my friend’s life, I realized we had much in common.  Why didn’t I spend more time with him?  He had prostate cancer.  We also had that in common.  I don’t know why it takes one and not the other (yet).

I looked down at my feet to see I was nearly standing on a flat headstone bearing only a name.  It was there to permanently remind everyone of the life of the previous owner of the bones resting below it, but it was only a name on a stone, on the dirt.  The dead I remember are interred in moments archived in my memory.

The funeral preacher reminded us about our forgiving God.  Friends and relatives told stories and shared good memories to remind us one last time about the person we’re going to miss.

There’s nothing like death or a funeral to get you thinking about life, death, and funerals.  If I have a funeral, what will it be like?  Who will attend?  Who will speak?  Will my friends share stories during the memory/story sharing time?

We are conceived, delivered, and given a name.  We’re dropped onto an earthly timeline noting our start day and year.  With that, we’re on our way through life, working steadily toward our last day on that timeline.  That start date and end date will showcase the dash between them on a tombstone, with our name engraved above.

My adventure through eternity began at my conception, thanks to my healthy, teenage mom and dad.  My arrival put me on an earthly timeline, marking my start day and year, July 24, 1952.  With only my assigned name and the good fortune associated with my birth, I began my journey through life. 

What sort of Life Accounting would we do if we knew we were soon to be lowered into the grave?  What Did I accomplish with my life?  Will anyone remember me?  What does it matter?

The most important element in my life?  Knowing God – Jesus.  I can’t imagine not acknowledging or not being thankful to our creator.  I don’t remember ever not trusting in God.  My life has included times like those referred to by Corrie ten Boom when she said, “You may never know that JESUS is all you need, until JESUS is all you have.”

The most important person in my life?  That’s easy – my wife.  She’s been part of my life for 75% of my years.  I married the one that got away!  She’s shared my absolute greatest joys, and she was there for my lowest lows.  I want to say I’m a lucky guy being married to her, but a lasting marriage is not by luck – it’s by commitment and work. 

I stood and watched as one after another, the bereaved drove away in their cars.  We won’t forget our friend, but the living associate only with the living.  Life, as they say, goes on.  Death, as they don’t say, also goes on.  You can’t visit there.