From "Almost Heaven" to Heaven

I just returned from the first funeral of a dear man who was a member of our church. I say "first" because this one took place in OH where the man and his immediate family now live, but there will be a second one in WV this weekend where the man was born. It is also where he died last weekend while making his "good-bye dear family" visit.

I'll miss him. He was the kind of man who gently teased the small children and verbally sparred with the rest of us. He was the kind of man who liked to throw down a verbal glove but then acted surprised if I responded to his challenge. I always did so because the battles were good-natured and never mean-spirited.

He and his wife were/are two of the most generous people I've ever known. Their generosity wasn't just the kind that included gifts of home-grown veggies and baked sweet bread, although there have been plenty of those. It was the sharing of their burdens, their blessings, their very lives that constituted their generosity. They've had their share of mountaintop and valley experiences both within and without the borders of the state of West Virginia. I felt privileged that they allowed us to ascend the heights and plod through the lowlands with them.

Each week the man's wife sends a newsy email to her family, friends, and pastor updating us on burdens and blessings. The man hasn't been well in quite some time and toward the end the illnesses were ganging up on him. His wife would give us the doctors' diagnoses and prognoses in a form that we could understand. Each email was written like a blog post. I wish I could share her writing with you because it is so sweet and down-to-earth. Each email ended with song lyrics. I looked forward to reading them each weekend.

I hope she keeps sending them. I never want to stop hearing about how she is managing day-to-day without her beloved husband there to share the moments. I'm not just her pastor's wife, I'm her friend because she allows me to be.

To me, the hardest part of laboring beside my husband in the ministry is attending the funerals of our congregants. And yet, it is the part that epitomizes what the ministry is all about. What other service demonstrates so effectively the message we're laboring to deliver? Our goal is to proclaim the offer of salvation so that all will be prepared for the next phase of their life, the eternal one. And what worship service proclaims better than this one does that we believe there is reason to hope? We aren't saying "good-bye." We're saying, "See you later!" because we believe we will!

To quote my newly-widowed friend, "A song, a song. I must find a song." I can think of no better one than the one Pastor Dad sang today.

No More Night

(words and music by Walt Harrah)

The timeless theme,

earth and heaven will pass away.

It’s not a dream,

God will make all things new that day.

Gone is the curse
from which I stumbled and fell.
Evil is banished to eternal hell.
No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.

And praises to the great "I AM."

We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

See all around,

now the nations bow down to sing.

The only sound is the praises to Christ, our King.

Slowly the names from the book are read.

I know the King, so there’s no need to dread.
No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.

And praises to the great "I AM."

We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

See over there,

there’s a mansion, oh that’s prepared just for me,
where I will live with my savior eternally.
No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.

And praises to the great "I AM."

We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.
All praises to the great "I AM."
We’re gonna live in the light of the risen Lamb.