I
went to a funeral yesterday for the grandfather of one of our young fire
fighters. It was a very simple, yet
quite beautiful tribute to the gentleman.
He was obviously loved and highly respected by his family and friends
and apparently the whole Santa Fe community.
Mr. Burns was a Christian and a member of the local Cowboy Church. There were quite a few men in cowboy hats,
and the pall bearers all wore the traditional blue jeans and white shirts and
cowboy hats. I did notice that they kept
the hats on throughout the service, but all the hats came off during
prayers. Respect for the Lord. I like that.
One
of his sons actually led the service and part of his responsibility was to
present the gospel. He read John 3:16,
and I saw quite a few lips reciting it along with him. Then he made a simple appeal for folks to
pray and give their life to Jesus.
Obviously heartfelt. One of the
most “real” gospel presentations I have heard in years. Another son read the obituary, and our fire
fighter grandson read a tribute he had written as well. They were all shaken, to be sure, but they
all did a great job.
The
family asked the funeral home to handle the military flag presentation portion
of the service. As beautiful and moving
as it is when servicemen are involved, I don’t mind having this particular
funeral home take care of it. I have
seen their handiwork several times now, and they always do a fine job. Yesterday was no different. One comment they made that was a new one to
me came in the portion just before the actual flag folding. It was a simple thought. The guy reminded us that something had to
hold the red and white stripes together to maintain the flag’s strong
foundation. Something had to keep the
stars on the blue background. What was
that? The thread. And the thread represents the military servicemen
and women who have fought for the country.
Powerful imagery. Then another of
our fire fighters assisted with the actual flag folding while the narrator explained
the meaning behind each of the thirteen folds.
And of course the playing of taps is always enough to bring numerous
tears throughout the building.
I
wasn’t able to attend the graveside portion of the service, but from what I experienced
yesterday, the family’s wish to have celebration instead of sadness was certainly
accomplished. May God be with your
family, Jonathan.
In
John 14:1-3 Jesus says, “Stop letting
your hearts be troubled; keep on believing in God, and also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling
places; if there were not, I would have told you, for I am going away to make
ready a place for you. And if I go and
make it ready for you, I will come back and take you to be face to face with
me, so that you may always be right where I am.”
Father,
I do ask that you walk with the Burns family as they grieve and remember and
make plans to move on. Amen.
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