An Accidental Funeral

I went to a funeral this week, kind of by accident. My mom and I arrived at the visitation as everyone was heading into the service, so I just figured it was easier to stay. You know how some people vomit when they see others vomit, and everyone yawns when someone else yawns? Turns out it happens with crying too. I’d never met this person, but I found myself pulling tissues out of my purse with the best of them. The funeral was for a daughter of a friend, a tortured young soul of 22 who had overdosed after struggling with drugs for some time. During the really thoughtful and beautiful ceremony I wondered how difficult it must be to put together a message for the funeral of someone who’s not a Christian...

“If you died tomorrow...” You’ve all heard the subsequent question, “where would you go?” But I thought of the alternate ending, “If you die tomorrow, where have you been? What have you done?” Are we doing what we would be doing if the end were near?  Are we spending ourselves on things of value?

"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God." -Ephesians 4:1 (NLT)

Are we living worthy of the call?

The pastor closed with a touching challenge, that went something like this;  

We have all made mistakes, we’ve all been confused. And now, it would be a terrible mistake on our parts to remember this girl by a bad choice she made or a time she was confused, instead of the life she lived and the person she was.

"A person isn't who they are during the last conversation you had with them, they're who they've been throughout your whole relationship." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"I've never met anyone that was all bad. Mostly bad, yes, but never all bad. Everyone once was a child, and that gives me hope for people. They just end up bringing to the table what they have and they do what they do for a reason, even if they don't know themselves what it is. Takes time to find it sometimes, but there is always a reason." -Crossroads, by WM. Paul Young.

All of this is a gentle reminder to me, and maybe you, to see the sweet child God created in each person we come across, even though sometimes that child is deeply hidden, and to live each moment with a purpose.