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We just returned home from a two-day celebration of the life of Wilson D. Miller, my grandfather. It truly was a celebration of his life and his ‘home-going’.
I am so thankful to be a part of a family that celebrates AND mourns.
Did you catch that? “celebrates AND mourns”…
I think sometimes Christians live by an ‘either/or’ option here instead of a both and. Those who celebrate WITHOUT mourning quote Matthew 8:12, where Jesus tells his disciples to let the “dead bury their own dead”. Christians who find difficultly with the “celebration” part of a funeral of a co-heir with Christ might focus attention on Jesus visible grief at the death of Lazarus in John 11. In all honesty, “Jesus wept.” (11:35) doesn’t resemble joyful celebration at all, I don’t think.
I believe the healthy response to loss, rather, includes both mourning and celebration. I personally find it easier to ‘do’ the celebrating and much more difficult to ‘do’ the mourning. I recalled numerous memories over the past couple of days that enabled me to do both – and I’m thankful to have been surrounded by friends and family who walked and continue to walk that road together.
I love finding out what some of my peers are doing after I’ve lost contact with them due to distance and time since high school or college. One of my college peers, Peter Heck, has been up to quite a bit since graduation 10-years ago. Peter hosts a radio show called “
