Traveling to Eternity

We went to my nephew's father's funeral this last Thursday. It was a very sobering experience.

This makes the second time this year I have attended a funeral of a presumed non-believer. The focus is very different than the ones I am typically used to. In the funeral of a Christian, although there is often sadness, there is always the hope of the resurrection. The service always intertwines both Christ and the memory of the individual, and how that individual showed Christ in their life to the world.

In the funeral on Thursday, his brothers and two friends spoke. It was somber and sad, befitting both the situation as well as individuals which ( I would guess) do not think about eternity frequently dealing with loss.

All concurred that he had a sense of humor and was always able to make others laugh, that he was someone that you could always depend on, and that lots of beer was consumed. The filler between these points were stories by the different individuals, demonstrating these points.

His younger brother hit the point which was closest to dealing with reality, that his brother served as an example - of things not to do, of mistakes to be learned from.

The service was remarkably well attended - standing room only - and bore signs of something which I have noted before to my fellow Christians: there is a sense of taking care of one another, of being there for one another, that often seems absent to me in the same sort of Christian group.

He was fun, he was there for you, and he drank beer. What would this be to present before the throne?

I was speaking with Nighean gheal afterwards, and she asked me about him. My response - the one I first heard from my pastor and I believe - is that there is always hope. He knew the truth, and had been introduced to it from more than one source. We never know, at least on this side, what happens right at death.

Still, it reminded me that it is an important goal - nay, the goal of ever Christian - to ensure that others have more than a faint hope of the resurrection.