Funeral for a Student

I attended Joe's funeral today. Over the phone, my mom asked me to describe what was special about him. I thought for three seconds, then I knew... he never had an attitude. "Attitude" was the norm at the school where I worked because attitude was the very thing that brought these students there. As a teacher, my daily task was to get past the attitude first, and help the students jump right in to the work or reading or whatever it was they were doing.

Joe never copped an attitude, and he was always respectful. I went back through our class discussions, and there was one day when we went through Victorian Literature and the issue of differences between slavery and unjust working conditions for the poor came up. Britain was becoming a world power, and it was all on the backs of the poor who worked 14 hour days every day of the week. Joe blew me away. He suddenly contributed to our class conversation in a way that showed a true grasp of sociology, economics and basic human rights that I don't think I even considered until I was well into my college years. That day, I reflected on Joe's comments, and concluded that this guy, whereever life was going to take him, he would really make an influence.

Attending Joe's funeral, I realized that he really did influence so many lives. There must have been over 50 people there between the ages of 17 and 23. Joe was a guitarist, and a smiler - a smiler in the sense that he always greeted people with the warmth of a priceless smile, and he listened. He was quiet, yet his kindness spoke volumes. I was honored to attend such a tribute to Joe's life. I am honored to have taught him. I miss him dearly.

During the funeral service, the pastor shared these words, "God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind." [see the earlier entry for today to know the amazing circumstances behind this quote from Charles Spurgeon]

This quote became a song:

Trust His Heart
by Cynthia Clausen

All things work for our good
though sometimes we can't see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two
sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us;
His ways are not our own.
So, when your pathway grows dim,
and you just can't see Him,
Remember He's still on the throne.

God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand,
when you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.

He sees the Master plan.
He holds the future in His hands.
So don't live as those who have no hope.
All our hope is found in Him.
We walk in present knowledge,
but He sees the first and the last.
And like a tapestry, He's weaving you and me
to someday be just like Him.

God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand,
when you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.

I don't know... beautiful and simple. I find that when I'm dealing with death, the simple and beautiful is just what I need.


Here's a poem I found
"Death is Nothing at All"
by Henry Scott Holland

  Death is nothing at all. It does not count.
  I have only slipped away into the next room.
     Nothing has happened.
       Everything remains exactly as it was.
         I am I, and you are you, and the old life
           that we lived so fondly together is untouched,
             unchanged.
          Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
         Call me by the old familiar name.
      Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
   Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes
 that we enjoyed together.  
  Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
    Let my name be ever the household word
      that it always was.
       Let it be spoken without an effort,
         without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
          Life means all that it ever meant.
          It is the same as it ever was.
       There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
     What is this death but a negligible accident?
   Why should I be out of mind
  because I am out of sight?
   I am but waiting for you,
     for an interval,
       somewhere very near,
        just round the corner.
          All is well.

Joe, I miss you. I'm so sad that your life was cut short. But I know all is well.