We’re back from the “farewell ceremony” for the father of a friend. Since cremation was involved, the ceremony was held in a facility affiliated with the crematorium. Someone who as a profession does these ceremonies, spoke at this one. I cried. Yeah, I know, Lucy crying is nothing new.
I do genuinely grieve the loss of this man. He was a sweet, funny curmudgeon of a man. This family will need some time to adjust to him no longer being part of their day to day lives. He was married over 50 years — you can understand why his wife will miss him. My friend lives in an apartment in her parents’ home so she also will miss him.
For me, this ceremony was extremely sad. I’m used to the joy of ceremonies when believers go home. That joy was missing. I was used to sadness being mixed with the hope of seeing our loved one again. That hope was missing. There was talk of “living on in your thoughts” but no talk of eternal life.
I cried. I realize that I have grown to love this family and they just don’t “get it”. They don’t have a clue what they are missing. There are not just senior adults in this family, people who have lived their lives without God and who are clueless that His heart is broken over them but there are young adults in this family. These are young adults who missed growing up being told “Yes! Jesus loves you.” The whole family is unaware, blind, deaf, clueless that yes, Jesus does indeed love them.
Oh, God break their hearts and open their eyes. The enemy has them bound and unaware that You have won this war.
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