April 04, 2006

Note from Rusty on Funerals

Thanks one and all for words of encouragement during a difficult time.

The funeral of my friend will be on Thursday and I have been asked to speak at it. It's been quite difficult to think of appropriate words to say. I have not had much personal tragedy in my life, so I'm not all that familiar with funerals. I believe I've only attended four funerals in my entire life, and only two of those were as an adult.

As for me, I haven't felt it that deeply yet. Either it hasn't really sunk in or my faith in an afterlife is much deeper than I suspected. Perhaps when I go to the viewing tomorrow it will hit, but I don't know.

When I close my eyes I see my friend smiling and laughing at me as if to say he has had the last laugh. In my heart, I do not believe he has ceased to exist, only moved on to bigger and better things to explore.

I worry much more about his family and how they will cope. If you believe in prayers, perhaps they should be directed toward them.

Anyway, my mailbox is chalk full of hundreds of e-mails on various subjects. Many of them are expressions of sympathy, so I just wanted to aknowledge them and thank you even if I haven't been able to write back.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 03:58 PM | |