The funeral brought together friends and family that I haven’t seen in a while and we were encouraged to share some food and fellowship after the service.
It seemed too simple…until we did what was suggested.
Handshakes and hugs and catching up. Lots of smiles and laughs.
How did we go from grief to ribbing each other in a matter of minutes? A cliche that says “Funerals are for the living” may contain the answer.
By the time the reception was concluded, I realized that 17 years translated into over 6 feet of growth for one of the attendee’s sons. There was the introduction of a spouse by a young woman whom I used to know as a little girl. Talk of grandkids was a common topic and second marriages were brought up a few times.
Life had broken some speed limits and I was not exactly the officer of the law to pull it over for a ticket.
Rather, I simply enjoyed its movement the way you settle in your seat for a lengthy classical piece - letting it take you up, up and up and then down, down and down and then...wherever.
I left that funeral with some degree of open-ended closure - perhaps the worst of oxymorons.
There was simply a peace knowing that I must appreciate every relationship that breaks speed limits toward grief and co-grieving.
For if there had been no friend, there would be no funeral.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: The gush of grief emanates from the fountain of love. But let us not get caught with that destructive grief of never having truly known those who could have caused us sorrow.
Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!’…[After the death of The Baptist] John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.
John 11:35,36 NASB, Matthew 14:12,13 NIV