SONGS, OBITUARIES AND HEAVEN

TODAYS SCRIPTURES:

Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people…. Deuteronomy 26:15, first part

"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Mark 14:62

Jesus is speaking: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:2

SONGS, OBITUARIES AND HEAVEN

Last week, Lana posted on Facebook that her mother wanted her to pick some songs for her funeral. Jan is not ill, just planning ahead and she wanted her daughter to have some songs in mind. Some of the songs they used to sing. Peppy. Lively. Songs with a beat. No somber or sad songs. She wanted happy hymns too. No hymns that make your shoulders heavy or leave you in tears. Jan just wants Lana to "Name that tune."

That made Bill and me think. Since our choice is to have no viewing and only a graveside service, we do not have to pick music, but what about the obituary. (Now you need to keep in mind that Bill and I look at death a bit differently than most people. We are not making light of grief or the loneliness that follows the loss of a loved one; we just think death is the closing of one door and the opening of another. A funeral should be a celebration of a life.)

Bill wants his obituary to say he died. Plain and simple. Then that he is survived by his Pain-in-the-butt wife, Mary, and their two children and six grandchildren. Bill has a buddy in the excavating business and he has talked to him about opening the grave. I told him no way was that going to happen because he would charge too much to drive to southern Indiana.

I want mine to say, "During her life, Mary was accomplished at aggravating her husband and annoying her children. Mary was also very proficient at "rattling on like a junk car." I want my obituary to end with, "Jesus said, Come." So Mary went.

Then the other day our grandson, Nathan, asked about heaven. He wondered if heaven really did have streets of gold. I told him, my mother was in heaven and if there were not weeds to pull and flowers to water, she would be having a talk with God. When I asked him what he had read about heaven, he said he did not know where to find the scriptures. So, I sent him some.

Read Revelations 21. Yes, the whole chapter. The New Jerusalem. Heaven shining with the brilliance of precious jewels. Walls of jasper and gold as pure as glass. Read the chapter, then close your eyes, and picture it.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

What did you see when you closed your eyes? What do you think heaven will look like? Who do you think will be standing right inside the gate to welcome you?

Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.

LET US PRAY

Mighty One, You are mighty and you are watching over me from heaven, your dwelling place. And sitting at your right hand, is your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus said he was going to prepare a room for me. I cannot begin to picture what that room will look like. What comfort it gives me to know that someday I will find the door to my room open. O, Mighty One, as I continue to grow in faith. As I continue to study your word. As I continue to live out your plan for me on earth, keep my room ready. Amen