I have attended several funerals recently. As a child I went to lots of funerals. In a small town, when someone dies the whole town turns out to pay their respects. It is simply what you do. Now that I have occasion to be in leadership at funerals, it is a very different experience. But always a holy one. I am always blessed to hear the stories of family members and to learn new things, sometimes surprising things, about the one who has passed on. I am always interested in the hymns, scripture, or poetry the person held dear and how the family reflects on those as they talk of their loved one.

Today I attended a funeral of one our dear saints of the church. She had requested a Mary Oliver poem be read at her funeral. It’s title is "When Death Comes." The words are beautiful and evocative. They were, of course, meant to express her own thoughts, beliefs, questions. But they also, I think, became a sort of reminder or challenge to those in attendance. And knowing this person as I did, I think that could have been her intention.

"When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world in my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world."

Even in the sadness I felt at this funeral, I also felt the gentle nudging of this dear, gracious woman. A teacher to the end, she provided for each of us, if we chose to take on the task, an assignment of becoming one who is married to amazement, making something real and particular of our lives. Just visiting is not what it is about. Living is .Really living.

So as I left the service, it seemed the sky was a little bluer than it had been earlier, the oak tree outside the church entrance looked particularly lush in the early afternoon light. People’s faces seemed vibrant with the flush of summer. And the grapes I ate for lunch were as sweet as could be imagined. Tonight I plan to walk outside and take in the promised full moon,allowing it to bathe me in its light.

I am taking a course in amazement and I have homework to do. There’s a teacher I have known who I hope will be pleased with my work.

Have a blessed weekend……………………….