Everyone hates funerals. Except me. I have been to funerals for presidents, preachers, janitors and bus drivers. And to funerals for those who were great church leaders and those who never once stepped foot in the church. I have been to funerals of those whose lives were well lived and those whose lives were wasted; for the proud and for the humble. I have been to funerals where there was standing room only and for those who had mostly empty pews. I have been to funerals for the very young and for those who took their own lives. However, most of the funerals I have been to have been for the elderly. But even so, they are all sad. Goodbyes are so hard. And I shed tears at most of them. But in those tears are truth.

In those pews are people who are hurting and dealing with truth. And in truth I find comfort. For a moment in time, honesty and consolation is found in a world that has forgotten that this life is not all there is. For a moment in time, division and barriers are left behind and we are all mourning in unity. In a quote from Paul David Tripp in New Morning Mercies, he says, “Truth isn’t mean and love isn’t dishonest. They are two sides of the same righteous agenda that longs for spiritual welfare of another.” So I find in these moments of truth an opportunity for our spiritual welfare and for true love to shine through for each of us gathered together. This is what matters and what lasts. 

It is in those moments when we all assess what is really important in this life. It is in funerals that our priorities are questioned and sometimes turned upside down. It is in these moments that we finally stop our mad lives and are given the opportunity to find true love.