In 20 Year Increments...

I realized another depressing concept this weekend...and it was centered around the funeral.

I sat there with my dad's Stepdad ("Papa") on the sofa during the viewing. He and his wife (my dad's mom, "Nonnie") were there in support for the family. I spoke with him at short length about funerals and time, and he's not a fan of them either. It occurred to me that life is often measured in decades, and at that, there are at most 10 in which one can survive. But when you scale it down to 20 year increments, things are put into an even more manageable perspective.

20-ish years ago, I was born. 20-ish years before that, my dad was born. And 20-ish years before that my dad's dad was born. Time moves quickly, and before you know it, your time is up. This is a concept that I have been pondering for the past few years. At some point, I will come to terms with it, because there's really nothing one can do about it. But just as with other things of concern (getting a shot, going to the dentist, etc) everything will come to resolve, and you can move on with other concerns.

I was relieved to hear a bit of news during the eulogy today...my grandmother was a Christian. She had not been a Christian for as long as I have known her, and to hear that said prompted another thought - that was soon discounted.

The original concern was that funerals and people assume their loved one went to heaven, because it's a nice thought. If the person was not a Christian...what do they tell the congregation? Do they still imply that the person went to heaven? Do they say they're in a better place? Do they tell the truth about the person, and imply that they went to hell? Or do they simply say "They're in a better place now." meaning out of this jacked up world, and in the ground?

But the preacher giving the eulogy had met with her a couple weeks ago, and they got to talking about religion. She was respectfully adamant about not needing it because the lead a "good life" and was a "nice person". However, the next week, he still felt lead to minister to her, and went back. He sat down with her, and she invited the conversation. He showed her the verses in Romans, and explained that one cannot get to heaven just on works alone - they have to believe in Jesus. After about 30 minutes, she prayed with him, and invited Jesus into her life. I wanted to clap at the funeral - but for a couple reasons, I did not. My stepmom next to me let out a big sigh of relief, and my dad said "Amen."

I did not know her well enough to need to cry about it, but the words the preacher was using were prompting me to. But each time I felt it, I turned to a picture on the podium of my grandfather smiling, to take my mind off the words and my grandmother.

After the funeral, we went to a luncheon, and then I came home. I don't have much other news from this weekend - I played racket ball with wiz, hambone, and sarge on saturday night, and went grocery shopping tonight.

Now a new week starts - the week before exams at school. There is a small possibility that I will have a date this week, and I'll keep y'all posted on that, but other than work, I have nothing planned so far.

Laterz.