Due to a scheduling snafu, the minister didn’t show for my father’s funeral, which was last month. I’d already planned to eulogize him. Fortunately, I had prepared additional “optional” information to use, depending on what the minister would say. I ended up using all of it.
While everyone was seated in the funeral home chapel, I waited outside for the minister. The funeral director got increasingly nervous as we neared start time. When it was obvious he was late, I said no problem, we’ll just do this ourselves (that was the PR person in me thinking solve the crisis!). We mapped out the agenda. Late almost 15 minutes after start time, I walked in the chapel, up the aisle, and knelt before my mother, explained the situation, and told her it would be fine. I asked my brother to join me, and we did the service ourselves. I explained the situation, expressed hope the minister was ok (we didn’t know then where he was) and asked my brother to open in prayer. Towards the end of the service, my mother whispered to me that it was the “best funeral she’d ever been to” and many friends and family said the same. My oldest friend posted on his Facebook: “It seems there’s no way you can say you’ve attended a “good funeral”, so saying you attended the “best funeral ever” certainly sounds wrong. But, that turned out to be case today…”
For some families, this would have been a disaster situation. For us, it was a blessing.
Scott
