A Monday Night Visit And A Funeral

Last week, my brother Todd let me know that his father-in-law from his first wife had passed away in Bella Vista and that he would be coming up to the funeral to be held on October 17 (Tuesday).  We were very excited when we found out that Jordan and Niles, his two oldest kids, were also coming up with him to attend their grandfather's funeral. We had a simple dinner and then got to the business of game playing. How fun it was to have Jordan's two kids here as well--Ezra and Ramona.

Tuesday I was able to go up with them to the funeral which was held in a Lutheran Church that Wayne (and his wife, Donna, who died last year) have lived many many years.  It was clear that he was a part of this church community and loved and cared about.

The funeral service was very different than anything I have ever attended.  The bulk of the service was written out with readings by the pastors and then responses from the congregation. It focused on Christ and the gifts of the resurrection.  There was a set of readings that Wayne had selected which were scripture verses.  One paster shared a "homily" which I would say compared to a talk but even in that there was only a couple of references to Wayne.

It closed with some "prayers" which were back and forth between the congregation and the pastor.

Example:

Pastor:  Grant to us who are still walking by faith in our pilgrimage Your Holy Spirit that He may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days.

People: Grant to Your Faithful people pardon and peace that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve You with a quiet mind.

A very interesting one to me was this exchange:

Pastor:  Grant Your forgiving and comforting spirit to the one present here who will be the next to die.

People:  May that one be drawn into the fulness of Your grace in Jesus that they may live in Your peace now and in joy forever with You in Heaven.

Interesting---to pray for the one "next to die."  Funerals do tend to make us think about such things--about our own death and others around us who we love and those who have passed before us.  It was just surprising to have such a line uttered during a funeral service, but I added my prayers for the one "next to die."

We sang hymns as well--all familiar to us-- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God---with more verses than in our hymnal; "How Great Thou Art," and "Amazing Grace."

Most of all, I appreciated that we are so blessed to live in a country where we can worship as we wish.  So much good is done individually and in our communities to help each other through faith communities of all kinds.

Here we are at the cemetery.  Jordan pointed out that we (Todd and I) were the oldest in our family, she and Niles were the oldest of Todd's family, and Ezra and Ramona were her oldest children--A picture of the Oldests....

Thanks for sharing your time with us, Todd, Jordan, and Niles--and Ezra and Ramona!  We loved it.