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The Funeral
Feb. 19th, 2004 10:44 pmThe funeral was today. I was up and dressed in time, thanks to Andy. They sang three songs, none of which I knew well enough even when supplied with the words. A few were vaguely familiar, but only in snatches. I think this may actually have been the first time I've attended a non-Catholic mass (as opposed to having visited non-Catholic places of worship). Not having to do Catholic aerobics (Stand up! Sit down! Stand up! Kneel down!) was nice.
Steve, one of Andy's uncles who looks a lot like Granddad, gave the eulogy. The minister mis-interpreted the word meaning of "eulogy", much to Andy's amusement. Steve's speech was sad, but good, and also funny. He'd asked folks for stories, and told them all in between talking about things Granddad had said and done.
The minister said a lot of nice things about Granddad, then went into this horrible thing about how we would only see Granddad again if we converted; otherwise we'd be burning in hell while the rest of the family and friends hung out with him in heaven. He also talked about how some cardiologist had recorded folks after total-death experiences, and half of then had immediately talked of heaven when resuscitated, while half talked of hell.
Later on I was talking with one of Andy's uncles, Bill. Bill was the one who got me into reading George MacDonald; Dr. MacDonald was the writer whose book Phantastes C.S. Lewis credits with converting him. It turns out Bill and I agree a lot on the matter of religion, though the fact that we both enjoy the MacDonald/Lewis angle makes it less of a surprise. Due to my somewhat Druid-infused views of Christianity I've been fairly circumspect when discussing religion with him in the past beyond noting that I liked C.S. Lewis as well. That may change now that I know he won't be condemning me to hell for not agreeing with him. Not that I had thought he would based on anything he had said or done, just because I've run into a lot of the burn-in-hell types and I'd just as soon avoid religion when conversing with them.
I suppose at some point I should try to put my views about religion into words, but not now. Andy really wants to go home tomorrow, so we'll be flying out at about 11am and getting back to ABQ with enough of the day left to be able to do things like look at the house and go out to dinner with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
echoweaver and her husband. Airline.willing, of course.
Steve, one of Andy's uncles who looks a lot like Granddad, gave the eulogy. The minister mis-interpreted the word meaning of "eulogy", much to Andy's amusement. Steve's speech was sad, but good, and also funny. He'd asked folks for stories, and told them all in between talking about things Granddad had said and done.
The minister said a lot of nice things about Granddad, then went into this horrible thing about how we would only see Granddad again if we converted; otherwise we'd be burning in hell while the rest of the family and friends hung out with him in heaven. He also talked about how some cardiologist had recorded folks after total-death experiences, and half of then had immediately talked of heaven when resuscitated, while half talked of hell.
Later on I was talking with one of Andy's uncles, Bill. Bill was the one who got me into reading George MacDonald; Dr. MacDonald was the writer whose book Phantastes C.S. Lewis credits with converting him. It turns out Bill and I agree a lot on the matter of religion, though the fact that we both enjoy the MacDonald/Lewis angle makes it less of a surprise. Due to my somewhat Druid-infused views of Christianity I've been fairly circumspect when discussing religion with him in the past beyond noting that I liked C.S. Lewis as well. That may change now that I know he won't be condemning me to hell for not agreeing with him. Not that I had thought he would based on anything he had said or done, just because I've run into a lot of the burn-in-hell types and I'd just as soon avoid religion when conversing with them.
I suppose at some point I should try to put my views about religion into words, but not now. Andy really wants to go home tomorrow, so we'll be flying out at about 11am and getting back to ABQ with enough of the day left to be able to do things like look at the house and go out to dinner with
echoweaver and her husband. Airline.willing, of course.
