Thoughts On A Funeral

Death is a word that encompasses so many emotions. We are all going to one day experience death, so why is death so difficult when it happens? Saying goodbye to a loved one is one of the hardest tasks God places before us. We have two ways to respond to death. Our first choice is to be angry about death and throw questions at God wondering why death has occurred. Our second choice is to see death as an opportunity to live life more fully, with more joy, and participate in acts that glorify our Father. Which would you chose?

September 18, 2013, my uncle Don passed away and October 6, 2013 Cindy James, my friend’s mom, lost her battle to breast cancer. Two deaths within three weeks of each other. I went to two funerals in 20 days. Funerals and memorial services are not easy to attend because you see how much the family is hurting. How much pain they are in is just so present on their faces.

So how do we cope with death? In High School, I think I would have been angry and mad at God. But college has opened and exposed me to a more fulfilling relationship with Him. I’ve learned that God is faithful. It is that simple. He is faithful and He has promised us that we will be reunited in Heaven with those we have lost. What greater promise is there? The promise of being reunited with those who have passed, gives me so much peace even though the pain is still present. The Lord has given us the ability to cry as a way of grieving. The Lord has given us friends and family as a way to support us when we do lose someone we love. What a beautiful gift we have been given. Even when a tragedy like death has happened, God has given us the mechanisms to cope.

Death is hard and life altering. However, death is an opportunity to remember and see those we’ve lost in the things they loved when they were still with us. I see my grandmother in sunflowers.  And I think sunrises and sunsets are glimpses of Heaven. So while death leaves us missing that person, in return our Father has given us opportunities right now to see what eternity in Heaven with Him is going to be like.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old older of things has passed away.” –Revelation 21:4