Wake and funeral............part 2

The thing that really struck me as I observed the wake was the difference in who was serving and who was grieving.  It made me really think about how we do it back home.  We reach out to those who are grieving and try to comfort them.  We make meals, run errands, or do whatever small gesture we can to serve them.  At least, that's how my experience has always been in the Christian community.  But this was different.  There was no one to comfort them.  No one to really help.  Everyone just sat in chairs in the barn and watched the family do everything.  They went out and bought ice and sodas, cup, cookies and other things to pass around.  They kept coming by with trays of cookies and drinks for everyone.  I think part of it was just to keep them busy.  They kept leaving to pick people up or to go get more supplies.  It's just how it is here, so I'm not saying it was a bad thing.  Just contrasting the difference.

It made me think.........we comfort and serve out of love.  How can you do that if you don't know TRUE love?  If you don't know Christ as your Savior?    There was no comfort or hope.  It was really sad.  It made me think of some of the Bible passages about death and the family and friends mourning and the preparations for their guests.  I pictured it in my mind to be very similar.

Before we left for John to bring me home, the mom/wife asked John if he would pray for them when he got back.  He had many opportunities to share his faith that night.  It was also sad though because as the night went on, they began coming around with cigarettes and trays of beer and whisky for the guests.  John said there were about 150 people there during the night.  By 1 a.m. or so, they were all drunk.  Sad.  He did have some interesting conversations.............and you can imagine how much more so as the night went on.  LOL

One of the the things they did was to continually have 4 people stand at the 4 corners of his casket.  Later, around 1:30 or 2 a.m., they had only 1 person.  The idea was that they were standing with him so he wouldn't have to make the long walk into eternity alone.

It was really a very interesting experience, but it also broke our hearts for some of the tradition and hopelessness.   There was no assurance of anything and no comfort for the family.  The daughters were very upset.  They actually passed out at the funeral.  I'll describe that next............