Not quite sure where this week has gone: 3 funerals in 2 days probably has alot to do with the speed at which time hurtles past...Yesterday's was special.
No. Let me rephrase that. I know they are ALL special to the families involved, and believe me we do our utmost to ensure that they feel this. I rather think God does too.Inevitably, though, you engage differently in different contexts, and some touch you personally more than others.
Yesterday's was for a lady whom I'd been privileged to spend a long afternoon with, only a few days before she died. We had taken her Communion, stayed on for a cup of tea, and then been stranded thanks to prolonged and violent thunderstorms..She and her husband were clearly devoted, and as they shared stories and memories, knowing that their time was likely to be short, I really did feel that we were on holy ground.
When we had visited to discuss the funeral, he had worried that maybe not many people would attend, though the forest of cards all over the house suggested this might be unlikely. In the event, the church was full and the little house afterwards overflowed with love and concern, under which the family blossomed. I honestly think they enjoyed the experience...realising that the wife and mother who was so precious to them was loved and valued in so many different contexts. It made me realise just how valuable those letters and cards you struggle to send in the aftermath of a death can be....and how much more so the hugs and memories.