The Unspoken Words

There are some words which we find hard to use in our daily lives, and a couple of those are 'death' and 'funeral'. They seem so final, and so cold and unfeeling, and when we are in a situation where the subject comes up, we dodge it and say things like, 'their name was on it' or 'it was their turn' or even 'they got a good day for it' and we think we are being funny or sensitive to the family's feelings.


So, why bring it up in this blog? Well, I went to one this week. Most people who go to a funeral will have been to one before, and there are many feelings which we bring to the situation. Our emotions can run high, partly because of the loss of a special loved one of our own, and partly due to the feelings resurrected by that earlier funeral where we were the affected, mourning family.


My heart tells me that funerals are sad. But what about my head? When all the emotion is stripped away, what are we there to do? The answer depends on the person that we are saying goodbye to. The saddest of all is the funeral where not many people attend. Maybe they were not well known, and maybe they didn't leave an impression on the friends and family they had. Yes, those occasions are cold and sad, but they are not all like that, so what makes the difference?


You can still feel an acute loss, but celebrate just the same. You know what I mean. The person who is 'lost' is not really gone forever, but just for a while! Who knows, maybe a short while. I have found that the funerals I remember best, are those where the person had a real impact on their friends, their family and those they came into contact with. They were nice people, but better than that, they were 'good' people, and even better, they were 'Godly' people! It's not so much a 'goodbye', but more of a 'cheerio' and I will see you later.


Morbid? No, I don't think so. Sad? Definitely yes! But people of faith have an inheritance waiting for them, which we can only imagine right now. The analogy is given of a ship on the horizon, just going out of our sight, but coming into the sight of another country. Another place. Deep within us, there is the strong desire to think that this life here, isn't all there is. There should be more, and so we believe, and have faith in another, and better place. I am in no particular hurry to leave this earth, but I know when I do, my ship will come into the sight of a Saviour and loved ones who are there already, and so my feelings are not sad, but satisfied in my future. A good piece of advice would be to live this life in faith, to your best, but with one eye on eternity!