Funeral

The funeral was interesting. On the way to Madera last night I went over the Sad Story with the little boy again. I wanted to make sure he had the concept of being made out of dust. It came in handy today when he saw Grandma Marian's coffin (grey steel) and looked inside her crypt in the masaleum wall. I think it kind of freaked out my wife that he lifted the red velvet curtain and looked inside the crypt. I thought it was interesting, too. I had assumed that we would see lots of coffins, but no. Each crypt is its own little concrete compartment. On the "floor" of the crypt were 4 wooded rods to act like wheels when the coffin was inserted. I have only ever seen burials in the ground so this was very interesting to me.

"What happens to Grandma Marian?"
"She turns back into dust, like Adam."
He looks inside the crypt. Looks at me.
I continued, "But when Jesus comes back he will put the dust back together for the Last Judgement."

A little later...

"Will I turn into dust?"
"Probably, unless Jesus comes back first."

I feel sorry for parents who do not know this and have to make up stuff, or tell their kids something they do not really know is true.


After the funeral at the Masuleum there was a memorial service at the Lutheran church in Kerman, of which Marian had been a member her whole life. On the bullitin board was a report from a meeting the ELCA had in Orlando, I guess the proposition that homosexuals be ordained lost by a razor thin vote but there was some kind of compromise on blessing homosexual unions. Also on the bullitin board was a letter from the local Lutheran bishop trying to comfort both sides of the debate. It made me glad to be Orthodox. What a horrible messy fight the Lutherans seem to be having. All we fight about is inconsequential stuff like autocephaly. I'm glad morals and doctrine settled issues.

I tried to follow the service but it was hard. The little boy is difficult to manage in a pew-constrained setting. The prist seemed like a nice guy but it seemed to me that the service was kind of made up recently and he wasn't comfortable doing it. He was much better at the masoleum earlier in the day. There he just read the Bible. (that passage from Job is one of my faves.) but at the memorial service it was kind of like he was a cross between the solemn man he was at the mausoleum and an MC for a hokey talent show.

Someone read a poem..

"...volunteer
high heels
apple pie
hard worker
always happy..."

Someone sang a song, the words to which were unintelligable.

He preached on the 23rd Psalm. I don't like the 23rd Psalm for funerals. I think the Job passage is better. But that's just me.