My son and I attended the funeral of a friend's husband today. The weather was beautiful and if one could say the day was perfect, except for the sadness of the occasion, it was close to flawless. Then, we walked into the church . . .
Large crowds of people with absolutely no respect for the sanctity of their surroundings milled around the congregation. No consideration for people kneeling in prayer. No respect for people's 'space'. It wasn't just murmuring but shouts of laughter, loud gossip (I know it for gossip as it was clearly heard!), gum chewing, and running around. Someone ventured that since many of them were probably Protestants, they might not be aware of how to behave in our church. Huh? They allow such antics in their churches? They knew how to behave, they just didn't chose to do so. I thought things were finally settling down when someone plopped down in the pew behind me and whispered, giggled, and chattered throughout most of the Mass. Sigh . . . she was a parishioner so now what can I say? :-(
Our pastor, however, saved the day with his wonderful sermon during Mass. He said that each of us celebrate holidays that are singularly our own and that we should always honor those days of our birth, baptism, First Communion, etc. because all we can take with us when we die are our memories and prayers . . . and all we can leave our friends and families are our memories and prayers. He brought up an interesting point that stopped us in our tracks. He said that we all die three times - 1.) When we die. 2.) When we are buried 3.) When we are forgotten. A good reminder to pray for our departed knowing that, one day, we will be one of the departed and don't want to be forgotten.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Quiet thoughts . . .
Only
in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is
adequate perception of the world.
- Hans Margolius
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