Death seems to be a theme in my life these last few weeks and just in the last two days I have had two congregation members who have lost their loved ones to the grave. On a day when God's love was nailed to a cross and left to die, this recurring theme of death became even more apparent.
A few weeks ago I checked out a book on cd called "Here if you need me" the autobiographical story of the first female chaplain for game services in the state of Maine. The author became a chaplain following her husband's untimely death while working as a state patrolman. He had wanted to go to seminary, to be a pastor himself. She made it her mission to do it for him. She did the seminary thing but instead of pastoring a parish she became a chaplain in the game services. She was present for search and rescues, for missing children, found bodies, and notifying next of kin. She speaks quite lovingly of death with a touch of "matter of factedness". She tells the story of wahing and dressing her husband's body for cremation, sitting outside the furnace while his body burns, and asking to be cremated in the same furnace upon her own death.
Almost two weeks ago I attended a lecture series at a local seminary called "The Undertaking". The relationship between the pastor and the funeral director was explored as were the opportunities to assist families in more fully participating in the funerals of their loved ones. Stories were shared of the former practice of visitation in peoples homes rather than funeral homes, to carrying the casket of loved ones, and digging the grave and covering the casket with dirt by the family and loved ones.
Death is something most people stay as far away from as possible. When people are sick or dying they are often sent to the hospital or hospice,but away. We don't want to be close. We let the funeral directors plan the plans and prepare the bodies, and the heavy equipment bury our loved ones, we need distance. Truth is, life is lethal. We will all die someday. We will experience death up close and personal. Truth is for those of us that call ourselves followers of Christ we are called to die, that we might truly live. We are called in our baptisms to come face to face with death to die to ourselves that we might be risen to new life in Christ. Our bodies indeed will die, but we will live on in God's eternal kingdom, because of this Good Friday. Christ has overcome the grave. Death has met its end and we have been risen to God in Christ. Thanks be to God.
