Do they know how much you them?

Last week I took two funeral services. Nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps, for a church minister. What did make me think, however, was that both the people concerned were men in their early 50s (both younger than me!) who had died very suddenly. Apparently healthy, their earthly lives had come to an end without warning. Perhaps it is harder to accept when a loved one dies without warning. On the other hand, the death of someone we love it is never easy to deal with, even when one is prepared. And many have said to me over the years that a quick death is better than a long, lingering one.

These funerals have certainly reminded me of my own mortality, and of the challenge to be grateful for and make the most of each day God gives. And how wonderful to know that if our faith is in Jesus Christ our eternal destiny is assured.

It is normal, when one has been bereaved, to receive condolence cards from family and friends. These often contain messages of care and support, and sometimes also reflections on, or memories of, the deceased person. The widow of one of the deceased men had written out some of the messages she had received from various friends of her late husband. He had obviously been very highly thought of. I must admit to thinking when I read them, "It would be great if things like this could be said about me!" I decided to read them out at the funeral service as part of the tribute to the deceased person.

My other thought with regard to these messages, was that I wonder if the deceased gentleman knew what others thought of him. Did he know how loved and respected he was by his family, friends and work colleagues? It was lovely that people took the trouble to write down these reflections on a card and send them to the man's widow. Perhaps even better if they'd taken the trouble to express the same thoughts to the man himself while there was still opportunity.