tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12550587.post112281908145242464..comments2023-11-05T07:35:30.331+00:00Comments on Dead Interesting: Be honestMargaret Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01493624466366591603noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12550587.post-1128351805170973812005-10-03T16:03:00.000+01:002005-10-03T16:03:00.000+01:00Your thoughts about death, funerals, grieving and ...Your thoughts about death, funerals, grieving and honesty have struck a chord in me, so I thought I would share this: <BR/><BR/>Several days ago, I attended the funeral of a well-loved pastor in our town, a man whose politics were radical (not just progressive) who reached out with compassion,to all the fringe people in our small-town society ... people like gays and lesbians, the poor, drug addicts, the mentally ill. He was a pastor who didn't mince words in the pulpit -- he was sometimes painfully (and always annoyingly) honest when he spoke at Sunday services in his church. <BR/><BR/>Thus it was, dry-eyed and with not a little curiosity, that I sat in one of the back rows listening to the glowing testimonies and stories people told about him, every one of them raising this 80 year old human being higher and higher on a pedestal. <BR/><BR/>It had been several years since I had spoken with this pastor ... there were some things that happened between him and me, that I had a hard time forgiving. I was determined to sit through the memorial service respectfully and unemotionally. When his middle child (an adult of 49 years)stood at the front of the standing-room-only sanctuary and addressed the congregation, he spoke clearly-- and lovingly -- of his imperfect dad, of the man who modeled his life and actions after Christ, yet who made mistakes, who wounded some people just as he lifted others up from depression, poverty and prejudice. He spoke of a man, a father, who wasn't perfect... <BR/><BR/>It was then I felt tears spring up in my eyes. <BR/><BR/>You are right - the dead deserve honesty. So do the living.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09967323387645271468noreply@blogger.com