Funerals

A friend of mine last year had a season of funerals, and that is what I have been thinking about.  My last two trips to Denver each included a funeral.  While I was away at the conference this past weekend, I missed two funerals in our parish.  At the beginning of the month, my co-worker Chris was gone for a week for a funeral in his wife's family.  It just seems that the last month has been a season of loss.

 

I read a book recently set in England that included some description of the mourning traditions - so regimented by society.  It struck me as odd that society or religion can tell you what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to feel, as if the mourning is more for the people around you to witness than for our own grief.  I certainly don't knock tradition or religious customs, but I also appreciate the authenticity of our actions and emotions to dictate whether it might be a blue day or green day or a black one, whether we need a moment surrounded by friends who love us or a solitary one in quiet. 

 

So here's a moment of silence for Liam, Larry, Nick, Ronnie, and Maria's sister-in-law...and all the others who have gone before us.