Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
This season of isolation has brought with it a season without funerals. Unless you have recently lost a loved one, you probably have not been acutely aware of this painful reality. Funerals provide critical vehicles for shared grief, opportunities to celebrate lives well-lived, and occasions for closure and perspective. People of faith gather to proclaim the Easter message loudly: Death will not have the last word!
The isolation of this crisis will ultimately give way to a season with multiple funerals. June could be a very busy month.
A good funeral
The photographs flash upon the wall. Tom riding his bike, hugging his bride, skiing with the children and grandchildren, eating ice cream at every opportunity. The music plays, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and “It’s a Wonderful World.” How fitting to see Karen’s life unfold before us in still shots, offering mourners a chance to laugh and cry. Here Karen is at three months old, held by her mother. The years pass so quickly. Here she is as a teenager clowning around by the seashore, and sharing a kiss with her boyfriend. Soon she’s walking down the aisle on her wedding day, and playing with her children. Here, she’s nurturing students in the public schools, then lovingly caring for her grandchildren.
Picture boards and mementos fill the narthex. A hole-in-one trophy sits next to an award of appreciation from Boeing. A worn Bible takes its place next to fishing lures and gardening gloves. The bells in the courtyard toll, tracing a journey of more than nine decades.
In this season without funerals, I thought that I would share with you the recipe for great funeral.
First: You must show up
Show up for life, and live. Drink in every moment, treasure every conversation and friend, leave nothing unsaid. Take the trips, take chances, go to the party… to quote a country song: “Live like you were dying.” Because we are.
Second: Love
Love those closest to you. Love your neighbor, love your co-workers, love your customers, love your community. “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is Love.”
Third: Be Generous
God loves a cheerful giver, and so does everyone else. Few folks come to the miser’s funeral. Few folks celebrate a miser’s life.
Fourth: Serve
Opportunities for service are all around you. Serve at church, join a service club, make quilts, send cards, tutor at the schools; find your place, and serve. Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.”
Finally: Forgive
Hold no grudges, speak words of forgiveness, mend fences. Forgive, and you will live longer and better. Forgive, and more people will come to your funeral.
Don’t wait to live.
Don’t wait to love.
Don’t wait to be generous.
Don’t wait to serve.
Don’t wait to forgive.
We can take care of the music, the scripture, the coffee and cookies for the reception. If you want your funeral to be well-attended, a joyful celebration of your life, a day of beautiful pictures, mementos, and kind words, then follow the recipe.
What you will find may surprise you. The recipe for a great funeral will bring you a harvest of goodness right now; your life will be more abundant now. Life is a journey. It is about the ride, not the destination.
We are one day closer to the end of this crisis.
Much love,
Pastor Jim
